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Review: A Leaf upon a Book by Anam Tariq

Review by Zeiya Shay



Writing poetry is a delicate business. It requires keen observation, an almost

stethescopic working of your senses. The more interesting part is making an intelligent

use of these sensory and lived experiences. Anam Tariq’s debut collection of poems, A

Leaf upon a Book, takes a heavy advantage of such a collective experience. Tariq glides

through the tender age to the sidelines of youth, taking a turn towards the celebration of

faith, trotting through the scathing thin line of politics, arriving at the doorstep of

adulthood and then reminiscing a pain which, I suspect, she is not at the center of but

where her wonderment has led her to wander.


Anam Tariq has an M.A. in English and draws inspiration from a plethora of prominent poets including Keats, Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, and T.S. Eliot (and I must say, I heartily approve). This explains her neoclassical style of approaching her verses, the sentence structures, and the presentation of ideas. I find it an endearing quality as it replicates what reeled us into Romantic poetry (of the late 18th century) as young poets. Even as the literary world in the book progresses, the storytelling reflects its contemporary circumstances and language takes a more convenient shape. I wouldn’t mind if more emerging writers explored this style of writing. I hope Tariq's readers pick up on this long-lost way of words.


Out of the 25 poems, 'An Actresses’ Art', caught my eye in some special manner. Here, she captures the grief of an unreciprocated love in a heartbreaking dramatic monologue. The following excerpt is where it really hits home as to what the poem is about:

“Before the vow gleefully you consented

to it and so did I, from a cousin to my love

I embraced through and through.”


In the author’s note, Tariq writes that these poems are pieced together over a period of

five years and eight months and you could see her development as a poet since it is

numbered from her oldest to the latest work. I found this honesty raw and brave. In the

writing world, even with the confessional nature of poems, we try to mask our failures

and burn our work that does not live up to our evolved self. As I made my way through

Tariq's writing journey of five years and eight months, I could track the development as

honestly as she has stated it. This also works well with the structure of the book as it

goes through its own journey with the poet’s mind and writing tools.


A Leaf upon a Book is an impressive example of tenacity and perseverance in this era

where even such a thing as writing is on a content fast-track. The time Anam took to assemble her collection is a statement unheard of in recent years and, for that, I must

implore you to read her debut work.





Please find the details of the book below:

Publisher: Leadstart Publishers

Date of publication: 2022

Illustrations: Farah Ziauddin

Page count: 78

ISBN: 978-9355590114



***

For the love of art,

Zeiya Shay


Zeiya is a poet writing in free verse with works featured in The Gulmohar Quarterly and The Great Indian Anthology. She is also a vocalist dabbling in jazz and new age Celtic singing among other genres. Her debut song in collaboration with ANC is set to be released by August 2023. Watch out for it!

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