Blackbird, Bye Bye - Softcover

Moniza Alvi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780374224 ISBN 13: 9781780374222

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2018

Synopsis

Moniza Alvi's Blackbird, Bye Bye is unified by birds. Her creations 'Motherbird' and 'Fatherbird' are inspired by her parents, and by the loss of her father and by his emigration from Pakistan. Among the many bird-related poems are versions of the French poets Jules Supervielle and Saint-John Perse, and poems 'after' the paintings of the Spanish-Mexican surrealist artist Remedios Varo.

‘As in her previous collections, Alvi probes the subject of dual-heritage, and the challenges and successes of living in between two countries. Concerned with borders of all kinds, Blackbird, Bye Bye also imaginatively treads the line between life and death… Blackbird, Bye Bye is a tender exploration of the world and human nature, which recognises “the carnage, the onslaught/ of the centuries” while managing to find solace in the redemptive powers of art, language and the natural world.’ – Sarala Estruch, The Telegraph

‘Her first poetry collection since the T S Eliot Prize-shortlisted At the Time of Partition sees the Wymondham-based writer on superb form. With a unifying theme of birds, the bulk of the book is taken up with a poignant series of poems about her parents. Alvi explores the contrast between the frailty of old age and the vigour of lives in their prime…’ – Trevor Heaton, Eastern Daily Press

About this title

About the Author

Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan and grew up in Hertfordshire. After working for many years as a secondary school teacher in London, she is now a freelance writer and tutor, and lives in Wymondham, Norfolk. All her poetry is published by Bloodaxe. Her most recent titles are Fairoz (2022), Blackbird, Bye Bye (2018); her book-length poem, At the Time of Partition (2013); Homesick for the Earth, her versions of the French poet Jules Supervielle (2011); Europa (2008); and Split World: Poems 1990-2005 (2008), which includes poems from her five previous collections, The Country at My Shoulder (1993), A Bowl of Warm Air (1996), Carrying My Wife (2000), Souls (2002) and How the Stone Found Its Voice (2005). The Country at My Shoulder was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot and Whitbread poetry prizes, and Carrying My Wife was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Europa and At the Time of Partition were selected as Poetry Book Society Choices in 2008 and 2013 respectively and both were shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Moniza Alvi received a Cholmondeley Award in 2002 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in July 2023. A collection of her poems was published in Italy by Donzelli Editore in their Poesia series in 2014, Un mondo diviso, translated by Paola Splendore. Al tempo della Partizione, also translated by Paola Splendore (an Italian version of At the Time of Partition), followed from Fuorilinea in 2020.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780374224
• ISBN 13: 9781780374222
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64