Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry

Gathering the Tide: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabian Gulf Poetry brings readers into the rich and vibrant world of the Arabian Gulf, offering an understanding of the people and culture of the region through poetry. A handful of anthologies represent the Middle East in general, or individual Middle Eastern countries; however, this is the first collection that presents poets from across the Arabian Gulf. The Arabian Gulf has a distinct and deeply rooted tradition of poetry and a thriving contemporary literary community. This anthology offers an exciting collection of poems by poets from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Gathering the Tide makes available to English-language readers the important literary work being undertaken by the poets of the Arabian Gulf. The anthology includes poetry from established and rising poets in the region and encompasses a wide range of poems and poets, from the work of Laala Kashef Alghata, a nineteen-year-old poet from Bahrain, to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai. While several of the poets composed their poems in English, most of the poems were translated from Arabic to English by an exceptional team of accomplished translators. The Gulf has attracted global attention for its explosive growth, and the poets within contemplate every-thing from souks to shopping malls, to love, loss, and solitude, to war, peace and beyond.

Patty Paine is the author of Oracle Bones (Red Hen Press, 2010) and Elegy & Collapse (Finishing Line Press, 2005). She is the founding editor of Diode Poetry Journal. She is an assistant professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar where she teaches writing and literature.

Jeff Lodge is the author of the novel Where This Lake Is (White Pine Press, 1997). He is the founding and contributing editor of Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts and co-editor of Diode Poetry Journal. He is an assistant professor of core education at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

Samia Touati is author of Literacy, Access to Information and Development in the Last Decade of the Twentieth Century Moroccan Society (University Press of America, 2010). She is an adjunct instructor in the English department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.

Paperback • 229 mm x 152 mm • ISBN 9780863723759 • 400 pages • £14.99