Category Archives: Near Eastern poetry

Adrienne Rich’s ghazals

Posted on February 27, 2014 by wcd2

February 27, 2014 Her earliest ghazals are in Leaflets, at the very end of the volume, which I must have looked at. But I’m reading them seriously only now — because of Agha Shahid Ali and Call Me Ishmael Tonight, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabic, Black-Jewish alliances, Caribbean literature, Contemporary novel, Indian Ocean, Middle East, Near Eastern poetry, Poetry, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Adrienne Rich, Agha Shahid Ali, Call Me Ishmael Tonight, Frantz Fanon, ghazals, Leaflets, Martinique | Leave a comment

Frank Stella, Agha Shahid Ali: Moby-Dick into ghazals

Posted on February 21, 2014 by wcd2

Feb 20, 2014 Stella’s “Fedallah” isn’t anything like Melville’s: not the “tiger-yellow” apparition “with one white tooth evilly protruding from its steel-like lips,” but a fluid, dancing figure, with some dark streaks and shadows, it’s true, but otherwise resplendent, impressive. … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, adaptation, Arabic, Classics, Middle East, Modern art, Near Eastern poetry, Poetry, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature | Tagged Agha Shahid Ali, Ain Ghazal Variations, Call Me Ishmael Tonight, Frank Stella, Melville, Moby-Dick, Protractor Series | Leave a comment

Jazz in Australia: Yusef Komunyakaa, Charlie Parker

Posted on May 22, 2012 by wcd2

May 22, 2012 I’m heading there later today, so I’ve been doing a bit of homework. Komunyakaa, of course: it’s so strange that I should be talking about his play adaptation of Gilgamesh at the University of Sydney, when there … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, Arts communities, Australia, collaboration, Comparative literature, contemporary poetry, Cuneiform, Educational institutions, epic, Ethnicity, Global South, Handwritten script, lyric, Media, Mesopotamia, Middle East, Music, Near Eastern poetry, peripheral networks, planet, print medium, Remediation, twentieth century art | Tagged " Charlie Parker, "Testimony, Austraiia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Dexter Gordon, February in Sydney, Gilgamesh, jazz poetry anthology, Louis Armstrong, Mandy Sayer, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, Miles Davis, Sand Evans, Sydney Opera House, Thieves of Paradise, University of New Orleans, University of Sydney, Yusef Komunyakaa | 8 Comments

Iraq in Poetry: Brian Turner

Posted on April 4, 2012 by wcd2

April 4, 2012 Teaching his poetry was easy. There was never any doubt in my mind that it belonged in the course – along with Whitman on the Civil War; John Hersey on Hiroshima; Ha Jin on Korea; Michael Herr … Continue reading →

Posted in Arabic, Classics, collaboration, Contemporary novel, contemporary poetry, Cuneiform, Educational institutions, epic, Handwritten script, Islam, lyric, Media, Mesopotamia, Middle East, Near Eastern poetry, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Universities, world literature | Tagged Alhazen of Basra, American Civil War, analytical geometry, Brian Turner, Divisadero Street, Eulogy, Fresno, Gilgamesh. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Ha Jin, Here Bullet, Hiroshima, John Hersey, Katyusha rockets, Korean War, Michael Herr, Vietnam, Walt Whitman | 3 Comments

The Global South: Miami 2012

Posted on March 7, 2012 by wcd2

March 7, 2012 From where we were sitting, we could see the different kinds of palm trees. Brian Breed, David Borman, Carolina Villalba, Izabella Zieba — fourth year, third year, and second year students in the English Department. There … Continue reading →

Posted in collaboration, Comparative literature, contemporary poetry, Global South, Islam, Israeli literature, Latin America, Middle East, Near Eastern poetry, Palestinian film, Palestinian literature, peripheral networks, Translation, Twentieth century literature, Universities, world literature | Tagged A. B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, Anton Shammas, Columbia, Cuba, Daniella Carmi, David Grossman, Dominican Republic, Edwidge Danticat, Escobar, Faradis, Ghassan Kanafani, Haiti, Miami, Mutiny Hotel, Ranen Omer-Sherman, Sahar Khalifeh, Sayed Kashua, University of Miami, Yayha Yakhlif, Yehuda Amichai | 42 Comments

Yusef Komunyakaa and Chad Gracia, Gilgamesh

Posted on February 22, 2012 by wcd2

February 22, 2012 I’ve never given a talk at UCLA. Caltech, yes, in nearby Pasadena; also the Huntington Library. But never at the famed Royce Hall, 405 Hilgard Avenue. So I’m a bit anxious about tomorrow: a graduate student … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, Classics, collaboration, Comparative literature, contemporary poetry, Cuneiform, Dance, epic, Handwritten script, Mesopotamia, Near Eastern poetry, Remediation, Theater, Translation, Visual arts, world literature | Tagged Caltech, Chad Gracia, Cunieform, Enkidu, epic, Gilgamesh, Huntington Library, Ode to the Maggot, Our Oriental Heritage, Pasadena, Sumeria, UCLA, Will Durant, Yusef Komunyakaa | 67 Comments

Agha Shahid Ali’s “Call me Ishmael Tonight”

Posted on January 4, 2012 by wcd2

January 4, 2012 This was his last book of poems, published posthumously. Agha Shahid Agha had died of brain cancer on December 8, 2001. How important was Moby-Dick to the Kashmiri poet? Probably less than what Melvilleans would like to … Continue reading →

Posted in Islam, lyric, Near Eastern poetry, Nineteenth-century literature, Remediation, Translation, Twentieth century literature, world literature, World religions | Tagged Agha Shahid Ali, Amitav Ghosh, Arabic, Bible, Call Me Ishmael Tonight, Donald Hall, Edward Said, ghazal, Hayden Carruth, Kashmir, Mark Strand, Melville, Moby-Dick, Persian, Qur'an, W.S. Merwin | 62 Comments

Frank Stella re-mediates Moby-Dick

Posted on December 28, 2011 by wcd2

December 28, 2011 The numbers speak for themselves. Begun in 1985, the Moby-Dick series is still ongoing, with one or more artworks corresponding to each of the 135 chapter titles, over 300 of them at this point. They are mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in abstract expressionism, Chinese art, epic, Japanese art, Near Eastern poetry, Nineteenth-century literature, print medium, Remediation, twentieth century art, world literature | Tagged "Near East Series", Australia, Frank Stella, Herman Melville, Islamic decorative arts, Japan, Moby-Dick, MOMA, Robert K. Wallace, Roberta Smith, world literature | 168 Comments