A review by caseythecanadianlesbrarian
Wanting in Arabic by Trish Salah

4.0

Have you ever read something that felt too smart for you? Winnipeg-based writer Trish Salah’s poetry collection Wanting In Arabic was like that for me, especially when I first picked it up. I’ve actually had quite a few unsuccessful starts with this book: I borrowed it from the library twice, and neither time did I manage to finish it before a) someone else requested it, or b) the library wouldn’t let me renew it any more times. There was something about reading this poetry collection that just couldn’t be rushed. I managed to find my own copy of it at Little Sister’s in Vancouver (yay queer bookstores!) and then, reading in fits and spurts, a lot of the time in the bath, I finally (re)read the poems in Wanting In Arabic.

So, needless to say, this book was a challenging reading experience for me. But—and this is a significant but—in the end, it was also very rewarding. So, if you want to read Wanting In Arabic but you’re intimidated, I have a few tips for you...

Check out the rest of my review on my blog: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/trish-salahs-poetry-collection-wanting-in-arabic-why-to-read-it-and-how/