{"title":"Kaveh Akbar","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKaveh Akbar\u003c\/strong\u003e offers a powerful blend of poetry and prose that explores themes of identity, addiction, and spirituality with profound honesty and lyricism. His work, including collections like \u003cem\u003eCalling a Wolf a Wolf\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMartyr!\u003c\/em\u003e, invites readers into intimate reflections on human vulnerability and resilience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in both the arts and cultural conversations, Akbar’s writing resonates with anyone drawn to evocative, thought-provoking literature. His compelling voice bridges personal experience and universal questions, making each book a moving journey through the complexities of self and society.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"martyr","title":"Martyr!","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life' \u003cem\u003eJOHN GREEN, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Fault in Our Stars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAN INSTANT \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024\u003cbr\u003eA NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST 2024\u003cbr\u003eA BARNES \u0026amp; NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE FINALIST\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD 2024\u003cbr\u003eNAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2024 BY \u003ci\u003eTHE NEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e, AMAZON, \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e AND SARAH JESSICA PARKER\u003cbr\u003eON BARACK OBAMA'S SUMMER READING LIST 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Smart, dazzling, different . . . This book is thrilling.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnn Patchett, author of \u003ci\u003eTom Lake\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'An absolute jewel of a novel'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTommy Orange, author of \u003ci\u003eWandering Stars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A kaleidoscopic debut'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCyrus Shams has always been lost. He’s grown up tangled in the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter, and his mother, whose plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober and maybe in love, he’s headed for an encounter that will transform everything he thought he knew. Can a final revelation change the truth of Cyrus's life?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eElectrifying, funny, and all-consuming, Kaveh Akbar's \u003ci\u003eMartyr!\u003c\/i\u003e is a masterpiece.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003csub\u003e* \u003ci\u003eMartyr!\u003c\/i\u003e was an instant \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller w\/c 27\/1\/24\u003c\/sub\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"The Distribution and Logistics Company (TDLC)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45719316758764,"sku":"9781035026081","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781035026081_5a8e1dbf-84e4-4cdd-b4b9-69d2c1daeadd.jpg?v=1728621986"},{"product_id":"pilgrim-bell-by-kaveh-akbar-9781784743536","title":"Pilgrim Bell","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA profound exploration of faith, addiction, and belonging from acclaimed American-Iranian poet Kaveh Akbar ('the sorcerer's sorcerer' Tommy Orange).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eAN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSelected as one of TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2021\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Kaveh Akbar is the sorcerer's sorcerer, masterful in the way he wields language . . . Profound and singular, smart and sad and funny, but most of all truth's beauty and beauty's truth sung . . . We need \u003cem\u003ePilgrim Bell\u003c\/em\u003e. We need Kaveh Akbar' - TOMMY ORANGE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith formal virtuosity and ruthless precision, Kaveh Akbar's second collection takes its readers on a spiritual journey of disavowal, fiercely attendant to the presence of divinity where artifacts of self and belonging have been shed. How does one recover from addiction without destroying the self-as-addict? And if living justly in a nation that would see them erased is, too, a kind of self-destruction, what does one do with the body's question, \"what now shall I repair?\" Here, Akbar responds with prayer as an act of devotion to dissonance - the infinite void of a loved one's absence, the indulgence of austerity, making a life as a Muslim in an Islamophobic nation - teasing the sacred out of silence and stillness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRichly crafted and generous, \u003cem\u003ePilgrim Bell\u003c\/em\u003e's linguistic rigour is tuned to the register of this moment and any moment. As the swinging soul crashes into its limits, against the atrocities of the American empire, and through a profoundly human capacity for cruelty and grace, these brilliant poems dare to exist in the empty space where song lives - resonant, revelatory, and holy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmerica, I warn you, if you invite me into your home\u003cbr\u003e\nI will linger,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ekissing my beloveds frankly,\u003cbr\u003e\npulling up radishes\u003cbr\u003e\nand capping all your pens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere are no good kings,\u003cbr\u003e\nonly burning palaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e-from 'The Palace'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Very few living writers write so achingly toward God as Kaveh Akbar . . . each of the poems in this collection finds its target' - LAUREN GROFF\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46516016251116,"sku":"9781784743536","price":36.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/12050193482823.jpg?v=1748912725"},{"product_id":"calling-a-wolf-a-wolf-by-kaveh-akbar-9780141987972","title":"Calling a Wolf a Wolf","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe much-anticipated debut by one of America's most exciting new poets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI could not be held responsible for desire he could not be held at all\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eCalling a Wolf a Wolf\u003c\/em\u003e, the reality of love can all too often prove disappointing at best, and life-threateningly ineffectual at worst. As Kaveh Akbar puts it in 'Heritage', a poem dedicated to an Iranian woman executed for killing the man who was attempting to rape her—'in books love can be war-ending\/...in life we hold love up to the light\/ to marvel at its impotence.' Yet, as it brings us along on its author's struggle with addiction, this darkly sumptuous first collection by an award-winning poet also shows us that there can, after all, be a power and a beauty to our desires, in the strength of their flow, in their achievements and frustrations, and in the pain and joy of denying oneself for one's own sake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are poems of thirst—for alcohol, for other bodies, and for knowledge. They find the speaker poised between life's clatter and rattle, wanting to retreat yet hungering for more; and, though they rush forward at full tilt through a stream of reflections, memories and emotions, they are never simply indulgent. This refreshingly honest and often breathtaking addition to the canon of addiction literature will carry readers with it just as the poet is carried, and leave behind indelible images of an existence richly felt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47340666683628,"sku":"9780141987972","price":30.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14681703482238.jpg?v=1772164472"},{"product_id":"martyr-by-kaveh-akbar-9780593685778","title":"Martyr!","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e BESTSELLER • SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • ONE OF \u003cem\u003eTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S\u003c\/em\u003e 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A \u003cem\u003eTIME\u003c\/em\u003e MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, \u003cem\u003eMartyr!\u003c\/em\u003e heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Kaveh Akbar is one of my favourite writers. Ever.” —Tommy Orange, Pulitzer Prize–nominated author of \u003cem\u003eThere There\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“The best novel you'll ever read about the joy of language, addiction, displacement, martyrdom, belonging, homesickness.” —Lauren Groff, best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eMatrix\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFates and Furies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKaveh Akbar’s \u003cem\u003eMartyr!\u003c\/em\u003e is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47643049722092,"sku":"9780593685778","price":53.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/8fac8c275b61fbc13ed0b14a6183e3be.jpg?v=1779170290"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/kaveh-akbar.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}