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Inspired by the Rocky Mountains, 'Land of the Sky', the last poem in this collection, is a means of using detail from various distances to reflect on the socio-political and the human that is all around us. At the essence of all the poems in the collection: to explore the land ... Read more
Inspired by the Rocky Mountains, 'Land of the Sky', the last poem in this collection, is a means of using detail from various distances to reflect on the socio-political and the human that is all around us. At the essence of all the poems in the collection: to explore the land through the distance of the sky and understand that which seems so grounded as-- the sky-- full of metaphor and near-unfathomable reflexes of histories. This collection is also a continuation of one of the projects of the previous poetry collection, Letter Out: Letter In defining and redefining love as an alternative to solidarity, with the added twist of drawing alternatives to diversity and democracy from the multiplicity of nature.
"Land of the Sky delivers poetry that is moving, transporting, and transcendent. A citizen of the globe, Salimah Valiani has no time for the pedestrian and no room for the commonplace. She recognizes that "things are similar and different simultaneously": "What's wrong with choosing the strange?" In Land of the Sky, Valiani connects Canada, Tanzania, and Uganda; Ismaili, Ishnashari, and Buddhist; Anishnabek Cree, Chinese, and Luganda; Chez Rodin and Plante Bath; snow and savannah; astronomy that's based on criminal justice forensics. For Valiani, "The first crime is alienation," and so she savours the world-- exotic menus and mountain gorillas, public transit workers and women dancers-- and each moment's "eminence / decadence. " This book is the result of the poet's "fragmenting my life / into more new places. " Why? "How many times can a heart be broken?" The resolve? "it takes pain / to feel free. "
-- George Elliott Clarke, Parliamentary (Canadian) Poet Laureate (2016-2018)
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Today's Poetry Muse's featured poet is Salimah Valiani: activist, researcher, and author of 29 leads to Love (Inanna Publications). In our Q&A, Salimah shares how in her new collection she traces love in 29 different ways, and how her muse for this collection is al-jinn, ... Read more
It's a hot week for literary events, including Guernica Editions' June launch party and Ottawa's Prose in the Park Literary Festival!
Are you hosting an event featuring an author whose titles are available on All Lit Up? Send the event details, including author, book, ... Read more
Land of the Sky, the title poem of Valiani’s third poetry collection, is inspired by the Rocky Mountains, which inspire even more. Typically higher than 3,050 metres and created by breaks in the earth’s crust and glaciers 65 to 1.65 million years ago, the Rockies have a ... Read more
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