Forest of Noise: Poems
"A powerful, capacious, and profound" (Ocean Vuong) new collection of poems about life in Gaza by an award-winning Palestinian poet.
Barely thirty years old, Mosab Abu Toha was already a well-known poet when the current siege of Gaza began. After the Israeli army bombed and destroyed his house, pulverizing a library he had painstakingly built for community use, he and his family fled for their safety. Not for the first time in their lives.
Somehow, amid the chaos, Abu Toha kept writing poems. These are those poems. Uncannily clear, direct, and beautifully tuned, they form one of the most astonishing works of art wrested from wartime. Here are directives for what to do in an air raid; here are lyrics about the poet’s wife, singing to his children to distract them. Huddled in the dark, Abu Toha remembers his grandfather’s oranges, his daughter’s joy in eating them.
Moving between glimpses of life in relative peacetime and absurdist poems about surviving in a barely livable occupation, Forest of Noise invites a wide audience into an experience that defies the imagination—even as it is watched live. Abu Toha's poems introduce readers to his extended family, some of them no longer with us. This is an urgent, extraordinary, and arrestingly whimsical book. Searing and beautiful, it brings us indelible art in a time of terrible suffering.
Book At A Glance
# of Pages: 96
Book Binding: Hardcover
Year of Publication: 2024
Publisher: Knopf
Language: en
ISBN: 9780593803974
Creator Bio
Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet and writer, born and raised in Gaza. Despite growing up in a conflict-ridden region, Toha found solace in literature and began writing at a young age. He went on to earn a degree in English literature from the Islamic University of Gaza and has since become a prominent voice in the Palestinian literary scene. His works have been published in various journals and anthologies, and he has been invited to participate in international poetry festivals. In addition to his writing, Toha is also an advocate for peace and social justice, using his platform to shed light on the struggles faced by Palestinians.
