What They Say
14th January 2020
We are grateful for all those who have given feedback so far on this historic project.
Rajmohan Gandhi praised the project, saying:“The things that should scare the world include what is happening in India — glorification of hate (esp. hate of Muslims and Christians), coercion of the weak and vulnerable, destruction of institutions, and more. The brave and creative, will surely win out in the end, in India and elsewhere. I thank God for hope-sustaining initiatives [such as these].”
And Moroccan poet Mohammed Bennis hailed A New Divan: “un projet pour notre temps et contre notre temps”.
In a review for the Financial Times, the poet Ruth Padel praised the project, saying: ‘The multilingual delights of A New Divan, published 200 years after Goethe’s, are inspired by the inspiration Goethe took from Hafiz, and his passionate vision of common humanity across cultural difference.’
Ritchie Robertson in the TLS wrote that ‘…The volume enacts a meeting of West and East very much in Goethe’s spirit.’
Edmund Prestwich wrote for Acumen: ‘…How exhilarating and enjoyable it is to read a book that combines such strikingly different kinds of artistic excellence and such diverse perspectives with the underlying coherence that comes from the shared reference to Goethe’s original cycle.’
And Brian Morton wrote for the PN Review that ‘…The Gingko poets seem to use the Divan not as a bustling street market of imagery but as a lens to look at our times’.