My Heart Became a Bomb, al-Asheq

A powerful collection of poetry by SyrianPalestinian poet Ramy al-Asheq that gives voice to the complexity of exile in our contemporary world

My Heart Became a Bomb

RAMY AL-ASHEQ Translated by Levi Thompson

My Heart Became a Bomb is the first collection of poetry by Syrian-Palestinian poet Ramy al-Asheq to be translated into English. Poignant and raw, these poems take the reader along a path of forced emigration from Bashar al-Assad’s prisons in Syria to Amsterdam to Auschwitz to Berlin, Germany, where al-Asheq is now creating a new home. By turns melancholy and reflective, celebratory and hopeful, al-Asheq’s newly translated poems offer the English-reading audience a contemporary perspective on the experience of exile in a world facing the phenomenon of mass migration, whether for political or environmental reasons. The translations are the result of a long collaboration between al-Asheq and Thompson (who also edited this collection). Raising questions about the nature of love, identity, and the role of poetry in the face of constant flux and great uncertainty, My Heart Became a Bomb introduces an important new voice to the world of contemporary poetry.

Distributed for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin. RAMY AL-ASHEQ Berlin, Germany

Ramy al-Asheq has published five poetry collections in Arabic. In 2014, he was a fellow at the Artist-inResidence program of HeinrichBoell-haus Langenbroich.

LEVI THOMPSON Boulder, Colorado

Levi Thompson is an assistant professor of Arabic at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he teaches courses on modern Middle Eastern literatures and cultures.

Emerging Voices from the Middle East

release date | november 5.5 x 8.5 inches, 80 pages

ISBN 978-1-4773-2226-0 $16.00* | £12.99 | C$17.95 paperback

ISBN 978-1-4773-2246-8 $16.00* ebook