Syrena in Space

The author's home is in the water, Syria, and they long to swim forever, but they know they would die. They are a Lumerian from Ancient Sumeria, a southern space creature in a northern world, and this book is a hybrid creature between a poem-story-form that crosses genres. They are a time traveler, and they speak many languages, and they are LA SYRENA, conjuring their own space to feel free.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2022
Publisher: Dzanc Books

Winner of the Dzanc Diverse Voices Prize, LA SYRENA is a powerful exploration of identity and belonging. The author's poetic language paints a vivid picture of their connection to the sea, as they describe their longing to swim forever and never look back. However, they also acknowledge the reality that they would eventually die and that the earth needs them on shore. Syria, for the author, is like the sea, a place of longing and displacement. They are a Lumerian from Ancient Sumeria, a southern space creature in a northern world, and LA SYRNENA is their destiny.

In this collection, each poem flows like water on the page, weaving in stories, mantras, revolutionary messages, the movement of Arabic letters, and the memory of Sumerian cuneiform. The author's use of hybrid genres crosses dimensions, creating a work that is both a poem and a story, and that speaks to the experiences of migrants and travelers across time and space.

The reader is invited to become the mermaid, a forever migrant, a traveler between the oceanic and the extraterrestrial, across continents and planets. They are a time traveler, speaking many languages, and conjuring their own space to feel free. LA SYRENA is a testament to the power of poetry to transcend boundaries and connect us to our deepest desires and fears.

Dimension: 215 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781950539444