Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
Mustafa Stitou was born in Tetouan, Morocco, in 1974, and grew up in Lelystad, in the Netherlands. He currently lives in Amsterdam, where he studied philosophy at the UvA. He has published four collections of poetry: Mijn vormen (My Forms, 1994), Mijn gedichten (My Poems, 1998), Varkensroze ansichten (Pig-Pink Picture Postcards, 2003), and Tempel (Temple, 2013). He is the recipient of the VSB Poetry Prize, the Jan Campert Prize, the Awater Poetry Prize, and the A. Roland Holst Award.
<b>One of <i>World Literature Today</i>'s Notable Translations of 2020</b><br /><br />
Winner of the VSB Poetry Prize and the Jan Campert Prize<br /><br />
<b>City Poet of Amsterdam 2009</b><br /><br />
“If the essence of poetry is to break with expectations, Mustafa Stitou is conceivably an ideal poet. “ —Mischa Andriessen, <i>Poetry International</i><br /><br />
“A pleasure to read and reread. Stitou: a highly interesting young Dutch Poet. Remember that name.” —Peter de Boer, <i>Trouw</i><br /><br />
“The most important poet of his generation.” —Piet Gebrandy, <i>de Volkskrant</i>
In his first English-language collection, Moroccan-Dutch poet Mustafa Stitou marks his position as one of the most important poets of his generation. Two Half Faces collects work from across Stitou’s career as he grapples in his poetry with his position in a changing reality. Stitou brilliantly parlays his relationship with his two homelands into a chronicle of identity, producing a vital account of cultural friction in poems that range from narrative to lyrical. Humor and seriousness go hand in hand, and the everyday combines with the surreal and the sublime to form a vibrant tension. This collection charts Stitou’s progress as a poet of emotion and intellect, one who poignantly illuminates the ambiguities of cultural identities, and the intersections of our inner and outer worlds.
CINEMA
in a time
of all-consuming drought
in a time
when farmer does his sums
take straw to a car
abandoned on his land
Father leaves as a child
with his uncle the deserter
for nine pesetas in the back
of the camiona—armpits
off the metal—going to Tétouan,
tiny Tétouan with its reliable souk
in the rigor of the mosque’s austerity
they pray sluggish and sighing
after jobs in gnawing sun
drink water from the water seller
with the sad grin and cool off
in the Spanish cinema with sunflower seeds
it rained in the movie
Allah al Akbar it rained
rain rain rain and I thought
rain was falling everywhere outside
Father acts it out fidgeting
with the remote control
outside
stone trembles
wind melts
lips harden to beaks
and people die
that sun-drenched summer
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
Mustafa Stitou was born in Tetouan, Morocco, in 1974, and grew up in Lelystad, in the Netherlands. He currently lives in Amsterdam, where he studied philosophy at the UvA. He has published four collections of poetry: Mijn vormen (My Forms, 1994), Mijn gedichten (My Poems, 1998), Varkensroze ansichten (Pig-Pink Picture Postcards, 2003), and Tempel (Temple, 2013). He is the recipient of the VSB Poetry Prize, the Jan Campert Prize, the Awater Poetry Prize, and the A. Roland Holst Award.