Resident Alien: On Border-crossing and the Undocumented Divine (Poets On Poetry)

Kazim Ali uses a range of subjects—the politics of checkpoints at international borders; difficulties in translation; collaborations between poets and choreographers; and connections between poetry and landscape, or between biotechnology and the human body—to situate the individual human body into a larger global context, with all of its political and social implications. He finds in the quality of ecstatic utterance his passport to regions where reason and logic fail and the only knowledge is instinctual, in physical existence and breath. This collection includes Ali's essays on topics such as Anne Carson's translations of Euripides; the poetry and politics of Mahmoud Darwish; Josey Foo's poetry/dance collaborations with choreographer Leah Stein; Olga Broumas' collaboration with T. Begley; Jorie Graham's complication of Kenneth Goldsmith's theories; the postmodern spirituality of the 14th century Kashmiri mystic poet Lalla; translations of Homer, Mandelstam, Sappho, and Hafez; as well as the poet Reetika Vazirani's practice of yoga. "Ali has a vibrant and generous personality that lets one hear the inner music that makes us remember what it is to be human." — Painted Bride Quarterly "Kazim Ali uses a range of subjects--the politics of checkpoints at international borders; difficulties in translation; collaborations between poets and choreographers; and connections between poetry and landscape, or between biotechnology and the human body--to situate the individual human body into a larger global context, with all of its political and social implications. He finds in the quality of ecstatic utterance his passport to regions where reason and logic fail and the only knowledge is instinctual, in physical existence and breath. This collection includes Ali's essays on topics such as Anne Carson's translations of Euripides; the poetry and politics of Mahmoud Darwish; Josey Foo's poetry/dance collaborations with choreographer Leah Stein; Olga Broumas' collaboration with T Begley; Jorie Graham's complication of Kenneth Goldsmith's theories; the postmodern spirituality of the fourteenth-century Kashmiri mystic poet Lalla; translations of Homer, Mandelstam, Sappho, and Hafiz; as well as the poet Reetika Vazirani's practice of yoga."-- Publisher's description Contents Acknowledgments Part 1. September Fourteenth Acts of Faith Careless Supplicant: An Interview with Nima Najafi-Kianfar Doubt and Seeking: A Conversation with Ilya Kaminsky Disappearances: An Interview with Britney Gulbrandsen Third Eye Who Sees: On the Source of Spiritual Search in Sappho’s Gymnasium by T Begley and Olga Broumas Poetry and Space Poetics of G-D The Rose Is My Qibla: Sohrab Sepehri’s Journey East Yoga and Cessation of the Self Part 2. What’s American about American Poetry? Poet Crossing Borders Attempted Treasons: Some Notes on Recent Translations Bringing the House Down: Computer Viruses in Anne Carson’s Euripides Old School Translation Is a Trick Pythagorean Poetics Ode to Silence: Lecture Notes Syllabus for a Semester on Silence The Opening Bibliography Kazim Ali uses a range of subjects - the politics of checkpoints at international borders; difficulties in translation; collaborations between poets and choreographers; and connections between poetry and landscape, or between biotechnology and the human body - to situate the individual human body into a larger global context, with all of its political and social implications.