Guernica Editions

The poems in Songs of Exile are not simply about geographical or political exile. They reveal a metaphorical exile from the poet's lost self, the one she left behind in Iran, her place of origin, the one she has struggled to preserve all her life. They reveal concern about the Middle East and the negative associations with Iran; preoccupation with the possibility of reconciliation between the three Abrahamic religions; worries about family back home; and broodings on newly found friends and lovers. In these poems, the political is personal.

Oh, Word, / I am banished to you / from the land of / non-verbal blood

Reviews

• Book Review: Songs of Exile
  Quill and Quire - April 1, 2016
• Poetry Book Review: Songs of Exile by Bänoo Zan
  Sumaiyya Reads - February 27, 2016

Links

• 49th Shelf: Persian Canadian Writers You've Got to Read
• An Interview with Banoo Zan: Canadian Women in the Literary Arts
• Banoo recites "Azan on a Toronto Streetcar"