"Iman Mersal’s singing of the dark shimmers; her charting of the cold warms at least this heart. She shows us how love exists against itself, how the human heart is often in conflict with its own nature, and how this imperfect state survives its own imperfections and rises to something resembling joy. Khaled Mattawa’s translation should not only be commended on its fidelity, but its exceptional talent and sensitivity. He has once more confirmed himself to be one of the best translators of Arabic verse working today."—Hisham Matar
"A wonderfully odd and vivid mix of humor and pain, Mersal’s work captures the contemporary complexities of an individual at a crucial point of cultural confluence, but also the timeless complexity of the poet trying to fit the world into words."—Cole Swensen
October 2008
