OR

Kindle Price:	£7.68
Sold by:	Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships and Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Colour:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Rebwar Fatah

Follow

My Poetry Depicts You: An anthology of Contemporary Kurdish Poetry Kindle Edition

by Rebwar Fatah (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.9 15 ratings

See all formats and editions

My Poetry Depicts You - Second Edition
This is an anthology of Kurdish contemporary poetry, which is rare in the sense that there have not been many similar attempts before.

It is a general introduction to the contemporary Kurdish poetry and its unique features, which may not be familiar to English readers.

These poems are from different time periods, under various oppressive Iraqi regimes. Most of the poets included were active during the former ruling Baath Party. Three of the writers, Dilshad Meriwani, Mala Ali and Barzan Osman, were executed under the Baath regime. Abubakir Ali was killed by Kurdish security services, and Irfan Ahmed died under suspicious circumstances whilst in Kurdish detention. For the remainder, with the exception of three, all the other poets fled for international protection as a consequence of their work. Due to the work of these exiled Kurds, a new branch of Kurdish literature evolved, which can be regarded as Kurdish Diaspora literature. Living under oppression proved to be integral to the work of Kurdish poets; their stories are weaved into their poetry, as can be seen from the short biography I provide for each poet, to provide some context to their pieces.

The anthology is comprised of both poems and Robayyat (quatrains, i.e. poems consisting of four lines of verse), all from the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The majority were written after the turn of the twentieth century, after the establishment of what is known as Goran’s school of poetry. It is widely accepted that Abdullah Goran and his companions modernised Kurdish poetry, by taking on a different style to the classical poets before them. Previously, Kurdish poetry could only be understood by the intellectual elite, due to its heavy use of classical Arabic and Farsi vocabulary. In addition, their rhythm was complicated, conforming to the Arabic Arud or ‘science of poetry’ that was established in the eighth century. Poets of the mid-last century, including Goran, simplified the vocabulary to unify it with that spoken by the masses, and instead based their rhythms on Kurdish folk songs that were already familiar to everyone.

I have listed the poets in this anthology below, starting with one poem by Nali (1797–1869) to provide a flavour of classical Kurdish poetry, which may not be as familiar to English readers. ‘Hey enemy’ – or Ay raqib, in Kurdish – may not fit into this anthology, despite that I have included. This is because of the important of this poem. It is regarded as Kurdish national anthem.

The poets who contributed to this anthology are (in chronological order):

Nali
Abdullah Goran
Ahmed Hardi
Yunis Rauf Dildar
Kamaran Mukri
Abdullah Pashew
Sherko Bekas
Dilshad Meriwani
Rafiq Sabir
Goran Meriwani
Mohammed Omar Osman
Venus Fiaq
Dilsoz Hama
Barzan Osman
Esmayil Mohammed
Hussein Maulud Ahmed, known as Mala Ali
Abubakir Ali
Irfan Ahmed

It is of real interest to any fans of poetry, or of Kurdish and Middle Eastern literature. The anthology is rare in the sense that there have not been many similar attempts before.

Print length

195 pages
Language

English
Publication date

1 Jan. 2017
File size

76533 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download

Report an issue with this product

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N9NRNQ5
Publisher ‏ : ‎ meriwani art; 3rd edition (1 Jan. 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 76533 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 195 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 1,593,018 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 246 in Middle Eastern Literature (Kindle Store)
- 7,373 in Poetry Anthologies (Books)

Customer reviews:
4.9 15 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Rebwar Fatah

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

As a young man and throughout his life, Dr Rebwar Fatah has written and translated poetry with a passion for love, peace, acknowledgement, and free expression. He has been fascinated by poetry, philosophy, science, and language since he was a young man.

Dr Rebwar Fatah was born in Kurdistan, but he moved to live in exile in London in 1982. He has written numerous articles and given many talks and interviews, in both Kurdish and English, on the socio-political situation of the Middle East. He works as an expert on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) and speaks the main regional languages fluently.

Dr Rebwar Fatah holds a BSc, MSc and PhD from the University of London and from University College London (UCL). He is physicist by qualification.

Dr Fatah is the author of: “My poetry depicts you: An anthology of contemporary Kurdish poetry” - 2017; “Souls of the Street: The Art of Street Photography” 2020. He also collected and published “Hawkar -the newsletter of Hawkarani Kurdistan - 1992-1995” – 2019; “Beauty of the Soul: Camera Abstract Images” – 2020, "Departing" translated poetry of Goran Meriwani - 2021 and “Reflection on Life: Essays on nature and humans” – 2020, in the Kurdish language.

Customer reviews

15 global ratings

5 star
87%
4 star
13%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the translation of Kurdish poems into English, which is true to the original poetry and maintains its taste, meter, rhyme, and alliteration scheme.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

Readability Translation

6 customers mention ‘Readability’6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable and a good source. They praise its excellent work and Kurdish poems.

"Great effort, a number of awesome Kurdish poems have been translated into English...." Read more

"This is an excellent read! Dr. Fatah has used his extensive knowledge in the English and Kurdish languages to create a masterpiece on Kurdish poetry...." Read more

"Very Well Done Dr Rebwar! The book is absolutely amazing and I recommend it to all who wants to learn about the contemporary Kurdish poetry..." Read more

"Very good read! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a glance at Kurdish poetry." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Translation’4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the translation of Kurdish poems into English. They find the translation flows well and is true to the original poetry. The taste and meter of the poems are not lost in translation, and their rhyme, alliteration scheme, and meter can be felt easily.

"I believe translating poetry is a great challenge; it demands a considerable level of talent, decent linguistic skills, a commitment to the text and..." Read more

"...Thank you Rebwar Fatah for this anthology. I highly recommend to all poetry lovers and in particularly to those who need an introduction to Kurdish..." Read more

"Great effort, a number of awesome Kurdish poems have been translated into English...." Read more

"...knowledge in the English and Kurdish languages to create a masterpiece on Kurdish poetry. It is a very enjoyable read, highly recommending the book!" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Dr Azad Shawkat Beck

It is an excellent piece of work, highly recommended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2017

Verified Purchase

I believe translating poetry is a great challenge; it demands a considerable level of talent, decent linguistic skills, a commitment to the text and, to some extent, an understanding of the poet’s state of mind and feelings.

It is unavoidable that some of the meaning or taste will be lost in the translation process. Dr Fatah, in his beautiful work, has managed skilfully to minimise these and succeeded in keeping the flavour.

Poetry can be injured when it is translated. Since I know most of the poems in My Poetry Depicts You, in the original language, I can state that Dr Fatah has been able, expertly, to avoid this to a great level.

Helpful

Tara Jaff

I highly recommend to all poetry lovers and in particularly to those ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2017

Verified Purchase

A collection of Kurdish translated poetry into English is a book that I will come back to again and again. The English translation flows and is true to the original poetry. I downloaded it to the kindle of my iPhone and I read it at home, on the bus, in a cafe, and it transports me into another world.
Thank you Rebwar Fatah for this anthology. I highly recommend to all poetry lovers and in particularly to those who need an introduction to Kurdish poetry.

Helpful

Karwan Mahdi

Great effort, a number of awesome Kurdish poems have ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2017

Verified Purchase

Great effort, a number of awesome Kurdish poems have been translated into English. The good thing is the taste of poems were not lost in translations. And the translator tried as much as possible to not convey only its literal meaning but also its forms and structures. Their meter, rhyme, alliteration scheme, etc can be felt easily.

Helpful

Lara Koyi

Masterpiece!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 February 2018

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent read! Dr. Fatah has used his extensive knowledge in the English and Kurdish languages to create a masterpiece on Kurdish poetry. It is a very enjoyable read, highly recommending the book!

Helpful

Zhala Nori

The book is absolutely amazing and I recommend it to all who wants to ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 January 2017

Verified Purchase

Very Well Done Dr Rebwar!
The book is absolutely amazing and I recommend it to all who wants to learn about the contemporary Kurdish poetry
I couldn't find a hardcover print so I bought the Kindle edition

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Goran