About
The poetry of Kazim Ali "invites us to give ourselves over to the music of language" (Beloit Poetry Journal). Known for its lyrical and expressive language, "crafted with a controlled, delicate quality that never stops questioning, never stops teaching, and never stops astounding," (American Poet), Ali's work explores themes of identity, migration, and the intersections of cultural and spiritual traditions.
Sukun (Arabic for stillness or rest, as well as being a diacritic that indicates there is no vowel to pronounce following a consonant) draws from a generous selection from Ali's six full-length collections. This remarkable volume also includes 25 astonishing new poems and an afterword by the poet. Together, they allow us to trace Ali's passions and concerns and to take the measure of his art: the close attention to the spiritual and the visceral, and the deep language play that is at once musical and plain spoken. "A monument to the 'music [that comes] out of the woods,' to the music that was inside us all along. This collection's movements in and out of various forms, countries, emotional and spiritual landscapes, and decades amounts in the end to a rousing attestation to lyric possibility. A true gift." "A comprehensive and stunningly beautiful collection of poems that explore the self in the world often through some form of remove, such as travel or being in a new place. The poems offer to lift us out of the mundane and into a sacred space or heightened brightness." "Exquisitely paced, Sukun is testament to Kazim Ali's distinctive accomplishment as our wandering, ever-questing poet. As one word, one sound, gives birth to another, so these poems trace the path from son to a finally accepting family, from body to spirit, from earth to cosmos." "A compilation from the heart and hand of an intense lyricist explores questions of queer love, spirituality, and the idea of home. Celebratory and poignant, vulnerable and wise, Ali works to honor a transnational lineage while also redrawing a genderless line of pilgrim prophet seekers."
Sukun (Arabic for stillness or rest, as well as being a diacritic that indicates there is no vowel to pronounce following a consonant) draws from a generous selection from Ali's six full-length collections. This remarkable volume also includes 25 astonishing new poems and an afterword by the poet. Together, they allow us to trace Ali's passions and concerns and to take the measure of his art: the close attention to the spiritual and the visceral, and the deep language play that is at once musical and plain spoken. "A monument to the 'music [that comes] out of the woods,' to the music that was inside us all along. This collection's movements in and out of various forms, countries, emotional and spiritual landscapes, and decades amounts in the end to a rousing attestation to lyric possibility. A true gift." "A comprehensive and stunningly beautiful collection of poems that explore the self in the world often through some form of remove, such as travel or being in a new place. The poems offer to lift us out of the mundane and into a sacred space or heightened brightness." "Exquisitely paced, Sukun is testament to Kazim Ali's distinctive accomplishment as our wandering, ever-questing poet. As one word, one sound, gives birth to another, so these poems trace the path from son to a finally accepting family, from body to spirit, from earth to cosmos." "A compilation from the heart and hand of an intense lyricist explores questions of queer love, spirituality, and the idea of home. Celebratory and poignant, vulnerable and wise, Ali works to honor a transnational lineage while also redrawing a genderless line of pilgrim prophet seekers."