Nathalie Handal

A newspaper article from last week posed the question, "Why have only 10 American writers won the Nobel Prize for Literature?" (And that number can be somewhere between 9 and 12 depending on how we define an author's country.) The question seemed to reflect a narrow view that the great literature all came from Europe, the US and very few other places. And, since the bulk of literature in schools comes from these places it's a surprising question. But, the question should make a reader show more realize he or she has been shortchanged.

Language for a New Century is a book one could read for years, always picking up something new with each read. While the poetry gives voice to writers as far away as Palestine, Nepal, the Philippines and Ghana, the essays between sections provide great mini-lessons on why this poetry has importance to us.

Nathalie Handal, Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar provide lessons that demonstrate their thesis that "the beauty of words, they refuse boundaries. They belong everywhere." Some timely voices and great poets include, Adunis from Syria, Kofi Awoonor who sadly passed away during the terrorist attack in Kenya, Nazim Hikmet, Vikram Seth or Ha Jin. show less

Several gems, but most importantly a deep cultural insight into Arab and diaspora women, their identities, their concerns, and their passions.

This volume is 20 years old, incidentally. I wonder what an updated anthology would be like.

Simply put, this collection of poetry is one of the most important collections released recently and should be on everyone's shelf. From melancholy to joy, all of the breadth of human emotion is found here from across the world . . . through the ink of many poets you may not have heard of nor ever will see in other books of poetry.