Titled for the influential singer left almost voiceless by a terrible syndrome, the poems bring sweet melodies and rhythms as the voices blend and become multitudinous. There's an honouring of not only survival, but of persistence, as this part research-based, pensive collection contemplates what it takes to move forward when the unimaginable holds you back.

Prizes

Winner of Poetry Book Society Summer Choice 2021 (UK),Short-listed for Foreword INDIES Awards 2020 (United States),Long-listed for Julie Suk Award 2020 (United States)

“A small ditty, easy to get lost in the sound—the cacophony, the lilt of the question, the repetition, and the nugget of casual speech lumped among the final three rhymes. To lose oneself in the sonic elements and reverberations is common here and throughout the collection.”

Kazim Ali is the author of twenty-four books of poetry, essay, fiction, and cross-genre work. He has also edited an anthology of Muslim writers and books of critical writing on poets Agha Shahid Ali, Jean Valentine, and Shreela Ray, as well as translated books by Marguerite Duras, Ananda Devi, and Sohrab Sepehri. After teaching positions at various colleges including Oberlin, Davidson, and St. Mary's College of California, he was appointed Professor of Comparative Literature and Literary Arts at the University of California, San Diego, where he is Associate Director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities.