I Dream In Long Sentences

I DREAM IN LONG SENTENCES the latest collection of poems by Farouk Asvat Winner of the Vita Award for his anthology A Celebration Of Flames A Celebration Of Flames is a powerful, impassioned call. The sanity and courage of this collection arises from the poet's unique experiential perceptions of his milieu, making him one of the few who can write about these traumatic times with such lucidity and lyricism. The strength of Farouk Asvat's poetry lies in the way he intertwines the complex elements of social and political conflicts with intense personal relationships. The wide tonal range extends from sensual and delicate insights into the nature of passion to the satiric and humorous use of slang. Vita Award citation Like hesitating snowflakes ... his words are fascinating in their capricious wilfulness ... like unexpected strokes of a whip. Susanne Baackmann, University Of Albuquerque The legend of poet extraordinaire Farouk Asvat: ... like vintage wine, proper poetry matures with time, and like vintage art the voice and wisdom of a poet worth the name is timeless. Mphutlane wa Bofelo, kagablog His love poetry soars with an intense sensitivity, it celebrates lyrically the joys of a most exquisite sensuousness. Marcia Leveson, University Of The Witwatersrand Farouk Asvat ... writes about love and suffering, about individualism, snobbishness, pretence and pride, about human and environmental beauty and about opposing oppression, and who deploys metaphysical, lyrical and colloquial language, slang and standard diction, all with equal strength and ease. Cosmo Pieterse, Culture In Another South Africa Since he has been in the line of fire as both a victim of Apartheid and as a political voice in the struggle for liberation, his evocation of the contemporary South African battlefield and his testimony of the humiliation, isolation, deprivation, degradation and murder, the collective weapons of Apartheid, are chillingly authentic. Herbert Steyn, English Olympiad, King Edward VII School.... a powerful, impassioned call. I admire the sanity and courage of this. Lionel Abrahams, editor Purple Renoster & Sesame ... you almost catch your breath at some of the stanzas ... you can re-read it several times and be struck by new ideas, metaphors, elegiac surprises, and the heartfelt poignancy ... Aggrey Klaaste, editor SowetanOut of an angry silence, a polished poet is born. Anton Harber, editor Weekly MailFarouk Asvat's award-winning collection of poems crackles with a passionate consuming pace ... Z B Molefe, arts editor City Press ... carries conviction and conveys a mounting tension which can be glancingly lyrical and simultaneously politically authoritative. Peter Wilhelm, Financial MailAsvat's distrust of rhetorical formulas produces a language that is capable of interrogating the dreams and slogans of the revolution. Julia Martin, UpstreamHere is the poetry which in its very contradictions explores accurately the emotional terrain and tensions of life in the townships today. Kelwyn Sole, University Of Cape Town, Staffrider... one of the most prolific - and controversial - South African poets Jon Qwelane, editor Sunday StarA Celebration of Flames is so near to the bone, so full of despair and sanity. There is such gentleness and sadness in the love poetry ... Debbie Arends, University Of WitwatersrandAsvat ... explores ... the turbulence and fragility of life under apartheid and the sustaining power of love in these times. Andrew Martin, National English Literary Museum News books by FAROUK ASVAT: all now available on amazon paperback & kindle Sadness In The House Of Love (novel) I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry) The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (poetry) A Celebration Of Flames (poetry) The Time Of Our Lives (poetry) Bra Frooks ... (poetry)