How to use this Page

Delaram Ghanimifard is the co-founder with her husband Karim Arghandehpour of the exciting Tiny Owl Publishing, which launched its first collection to great acclaim last year. Their catalogue is already bursting with beautiful picture books by … Continue reading ... →

With the world so traumatised by terrorism , the world is responding with movements for change, peace, kindness.

The Labyrinth – a walking meditation – opened by Governor Marie Bashir to the blessings of the Wisdom Keepers from Aunty Ali Golding Aboriginal Elder Biripi Nation and many leaders of many faiths – Sikh, Buddhist, Moslem, Roman Catholic, Unity Church, Jewish, Zen, Anglican …. and others.

The Sydney Sacred Music Festival joins Stephanie Dowrick author and minister for an Interfaith service in Sydney’ s Uniting Church:-

‘If light is in your heart you will find your way home’. Rumi

The music played and sung by Dr Kim Cunio touched the heart.

Elephants Have Wings published by Ford Street Publishing.

The post Elephants Have Wings Engaging in Community appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

This week’s guest: Mina Javaherbin, author of Goal! and The Secret Message

When to listen: Wednesday, February 23rd at Noon EST (9 am PST)

Where to listen: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookdads

Mina’s first children’s book GOAL! has received great recognition including: being named to the list of the best one hundred books (Smithsonian 2010); the best one hundred books, (NYPL 2010); nominated for the SCIBA Awards in 2010. Humanitarian, human rights activist and Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote a beautiful blurb for GOAL! calling it: “Uplifting and inspiring, this beautifully written and illustrated book reminds us of the joys and saving grace of friendship and sport. Set in South Africa, this book is a gift for soccer fans and all families around the world.”

Mina’s second book, The Secret Message is a beautifully written and illustrated story based on a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi that Iranian-born Javaherbin heard from her father as a bedtime story. To learn more please visit Mina’s website: http://www.minajavaherbin.com

 "Window to the Heart" mandala by blue_sea_art.

In the depths of winter, I think about Spring.

There is a faint stirring underfoot.

I've been practicing "no mind." This is a secret all you poets already know. To move beyond attentiveness, listening -- to a state of attunement.

Can you hear the song, the airy silence?

Absorb the ground and sky, its fragrance.

Honor what unfolds from within, dissolve in your bliss.

WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC
by Jelaluddin Rumi

Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out,
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!

They derive from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

                                    ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Have a beautiful weekend!

The Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted today by Lee Wind at I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?

The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in,
that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.

Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.

~ from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne (Harper, 1995).

Copyright © 2010 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

Rumi: The Fire of Love, the internationally acclaimed novel by Nahal Tajadod, is reviewed in Rain Taxi Review of Books: "This book is the first comprehensive and authoritative historical novel in English about the life and mind of Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-century Persian mystic who is one of the most widely read poets in North America. Nahal Tajadod confesses that it took her several years to finish this book, during which her mother (a scholar of Persian literature who helped her to understand Rumi) died and Tajaddod gave birth to her first child (after ten years of trying). During those years, her husband would often inquire about her book on Rumi, and in reply Tajadod would quote from one of Rumi’s own poems: “For a certain time the book has been delayed.” One day, Tajadod writes, while breastfeeding her infant daughter, she opened Rumi’s book and found out that that particular poem continues like this: “Because it takes time for blood to become milk.” Its long gestation seems to have paid off, for Rumi: The Fire of Love is a delight to read."

A new novel based on the life of the legendary Sufi poet Rumi will soon be available for the first time in the U.S. Rumi: The Fire of Love, by Nahal Tajadod, vividly reimagines the story of Rumi, whose poetry and mystic teachings have mesmerized the world for centuries. Tajadod, a renowned translator of Rumi into French, delves into the soul and passion of Rumi in a breathtaking work that is already in production as a major motion picture. Kirkus Reviews notes that Rumi: The Fire of Love conveys the "magic of a teacher and scholar whose passion produced some of the most beautiful poetry ever written."

Author: Suzan Nadimi
Illustrator: Ande Cook
Published: 2007 Albert Whitman & Co. (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0807550590 Amazon.ca Amazon.com

Lyrical dialog and sweet, somehow soothing illustrations bring to life an 800 year old story of fondness and freedom that challenges us to make space for the perspectives of both captor and captive.

Other books mentioned:

• The Dragons Are Singing Tonight (poem: “I Am My Master’s Dragon”)

You can read more about thirteenth century mystic poet Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi and the designation of 2007 by UNESCO as the International Year of Rumi here.

The Death of the Book Review. The Rebirth of the Book Review. The Book Review Gets a New Set of Clothes and Learns How To Dance.

Everybody has a theory about The Future of Book Reviews. Ed Champion weighs them all in this live-blogged, heated panel at the Book Expo. 

Maud Newton is on a roll. First she spots a picture of the reclusive Christian comic book tract writer, Jack Chick. Then she ruminates on the nature of novel structure and the benefits of writing pacts. Follow these links: "Mark and I have a writing pact, and he’s more than upheld his end of it. So I won’t ruminate about my progress except to say that lately I can’t stop thinking about structure. A book fails or succeeds on its architecture, and right now my draft is bloated and wobbly." 

Over at Mumpsimus, I just discovered Brian Francis Slattery's debut novel, Spaceman Blues. I loved the site's review of the book, and I was even more excited after I saw Slattery's website. I'm going to try and line up a Five Easy Questions about writing surreal space age immigration novels.

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.