{"product_id":"the-palace-of-forty-pillars","title":"Palace of Forty Pillars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Davoudian is an enchanting and intriguing new voice' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'In this formally radical debut, Armen Davoudian shows how rhyme enacts longing for a homeland left behind; how meter sings to a lost beloved; and how a combination of the two can map a self - or idea of the self - relinquished so that a new life, and all the happiness it deserves, can take shape' Paul Tran\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Marks the arrival of a notable new voice . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Palace of Forty Pillars\u003c\/i\u003e is a moving book as well as an elegant one; its central preoccupation with the theme of belonging speaks memorably to one of the most urgent questions of our time' Andrew Motion\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWry, tender, and formally innovative, Armen Davoudian's debut poetry collection, \u003ci\u003eThe Palace of Forty Pillars\u003c\/i\u003e, tells the story of a self estranged from the world around him as a gay adolescent, an Armenian in Iran, and an immigrant in America. It is a story darkened by the long shadow of global tragedies - the Armenian genocide, war in the Middle East, the specter of homophobia. With masterful attention to rhyme and meter, these poems also carefully witness the most intimate encounters: the awkward distance between mother and son getting ready in the morning, the delicate balance of power between lovers, a tense exchange with the morality police in Iran.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Isfahan, Iran, the eponymous palace has only twenty pillars - but, reflected in its courtyard pool, they become forty. This is the gamble of Davoudian's magical, ruminative poems: to recreate, in art's reflection, a home for the speaker, who is unable to return to it in life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49582487306584,"sku":"9781472158451","price":17.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781472158451.jpg?v=1764527440","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/the-palace-of-forty-pillars","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}