Forty Names

In this remarkable first collection, Parwana Fayyaz evokes events in the lives of Afghan women, past and present, their endurance and achievements, told from their points of view.

The poems are not judgmental: they witness. The reader infers the contexts. As well as the human stories, there is a spectacular landscape, unfamiliar villages and cities, and a rich history, which the Western press in reporting contemporary news foreshortens and diminishes. 'Storytelling has a long tradition in Afghan culture.