From the streets of Ufa to the great cultural crossroads of Russia, The Poet tells the unforgettable story of Majid Khairullin, a child prodigy whose gift for verse defies borders, languages, and regimes.
Born of a Russian mother and a Tatar father, Majid grew up reciting the classics of Pushkin and Lermontov while secretly absorbing the forbidden cadences of Tatar verse. His voice, discovered on a sweltering spring day before a restless crowd, soon becomes both a blessing and a danger: poetry becomes
his weapon, his refuge, and his destiny.
Through visions, tragedy, and triumph, Th e Poet traces the making of an artist in a fractured world, a young man torn between two heritages, called to speak for both. Rich in history and alive with lyrical detail, D. Thomas Gochenour's novel is at once a portrait of a boy becoming a man, and of a poet learning that words can both illuminate and defy power.
A sweeping, deeply human story of identity, culture, and the indomitable force of art.
"In an era when words could spark revolutions and silence could kill dreams, one boy discovers the power of his voice. D. Thomas Gochenour's The Poet is a moving journey of art, faith, and resistance-showing how poetry can defy oppression and heal the soul. A story that speaks to the dreamer, the fighter, and the believer in us all."
-Hollywood Book Reviews
