My Blog

Twilight

Khusro sings, “there is only Light darkness is a trick of your mind, an illusion that takes away, the splendour of your birth right which is Light, Light, and more Light” Your mother whispers, “soften your heart, drop your shields, and your swords there is no danger,...

For Marx

For Marx Oh knaves, who lie back among your plush towers of privilege, Gazing down on us who toil and travail just to reach the ghosts of an evening meal. Your laughter a rippling cacophony of treacherous deceit and gilded devilry, Lust dancing on your tongues as you...

The significance of shibh

The significance of shibh This clearing in the sand,over here -Stamped with the imprint of your feet,I carry with me across the seas,as I traverse worldsthat separate themselves with songs of dissonance,and the architecture of upheaval,imaginary differencesinscribed...

Tehran

Tehran In this place, poetry looms everywhere, spilling off the tongues of taxi drivers and street hawkers like the blood of a pomegranate. Hafez and Khayyam flavour each breath With the pungent fragrance of ‘hu’ - and when everything is sacred, there is no more...

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Happily, the challenge of keeping on top of things is smoothed over by Karmali’s rich, evocative, at times almost musical way with language. Her prose is a sensory feast–clothing, hair, weather, flora and fauna are all lingered over in loving detail. Karmali never loses sight of the importance of food in her characters’ culture, listing in full the elements of many a meal, making their ingredients read like poetry. She is also remarkably adept at conveying atmosphere, a talent especially appropriate here because the settings-the international bazaar of Zanzibar, a family farm at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the bustle of modern Cairo and London-play a part as important as the characters themselves.

Ian McGillis in Montreal Review of Books