Join us for the online launch of A Kaleidoscope of Stories, Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry on Sunday, January 31st at 11am PST/7pm GMT.
It promises to be a thought provoking and spellbinding evening of verse, exploring topics of love, loss, identity and faith. Immerse yourself in the poetic world view of contemporary Muslim poets.
FREE. The event will be live-streamed on the GAMA Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/theGAMACollective. Even if you don’t have a Facebook account you should be able to view the live-stream.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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Reviews of A Kaleidoscope of Stories – Muslim Voices in Contemporary Poetry
‘A Kaleidoscope of Stories is a volume to celebrate in the world of poetry. Never before have so many Muslim voices in contemporary poetry been collected in the same place. It’s a powerful contribution to the poetry scene.’
-William Sieghart
Founder of the Forward Prizes for Poetry and National Poetry Day and author of The Poetry Pharmacy
‘A Kaleidoscope of Stories takes you on a journey of contemporary voices of emerging experiences, reflections and musings, primarily from a Western Muslim perspective. There are the voices of wisdom such as the late Abdal-Hayy Moore and Abdalhamid Evans and the more youthful Raqaya Esime Fetuga. Then there are those who travel the tightrope of diversity, difference and change, and of course many of the poems reflect the deeply felt spiritual journeys that come both with elation, longing and even pain… This collection is about the here and now, the people who have followed the same paths as you, who struggle with the same struggles and who have opened their hearts in verse. I think the variety of experiences reflected in the collection will appeal to different moods and will resonate in particular with those, like me, who are not so able to put similar feelings down on paper… As my late husband would often say those that we consider to be classical writers today such as the Shakespeares and the John Donnes or the Hafiz and Rumi were in their day contemporaries of their time, space and context writing what they saw, felt and experienced. The future classical poets, writers and Muslim commentators are emerging right now and it is so exciting to witness it.’
– Humera Khan
An-Nisa Society
‘This 532 page anthology is comprised of poems from 80 mostly contemporary Muslim poets writing in English and from a few pioneers who have left this transitory realm, such as our dear brother, Daniel Abd al-Hayy Moore رحمه الله. One of the ground-breaking features of this unique anthology is that about half of its contributors are women … This should be among the required texts for classes in contemporary Islam and transnational literature.’
– Dr. Alan ʿAbd al-Haqq Godlas, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Georgia
‘The editors of this edition, and the poets within its pages, are to be commended for allowing those of us whose tongue is English to receive a drink from the cup of unity and eternal love.’
– Baraka Blue, Poet, Director of Rumi Center for Spirituality and the Arts
Find out more about this exciting new anthology here: