|
MANARAH - A Limited Edition Bookarts Magazine
Annette C. Disslin, Germany, 2011
Even though I myself have seen a life without war the days of my childhood and youth have been marked by wars mainly for religious reasons going on and on for decades e.g. in Ireland or in the Near East. I have always wondered how many generations of children were born and grew up never knowing what peace and a free live would be like, living with it being part of every day's life to loose a friend, sister, father or beloved. What I felt utterly worried about was, that it must be hard for somebody who grew up like this, not to fall for hatred but withstand it, refuse to become violent and fight for an understanding in peace and for winning without a war. Still, in all these war struck places there have always been people holding on to the vision of a life of peace and freedom and, for sure, many of those hoping for and believing in peace and freedom in times of war are readers. The writings of poets and philosophers, be they religious, poetry or prose, over the centuries have always given guidance to people. In times of catastrophes, epidemics or wars reading can give hope, open up a window into a future that might be darkened by the time being but be bound to brighten up some time. Books and magazines, notes, handwritten diaries, reading about somebody else’s experiences, be it fiction or autobiographic, makes the reader find solace and gives a vision of possibilities. Reading can give help in finding the right direction in difficult periods in an individual life as well as in threatening or devastating political situations.
Manarah is Arabic and means lighthouse. It also was used in the sense of signpost or road mark. A more general meaning was “place shedding light”. Manarah later developed into the expression “minaret” the tower like part of a mosque.
For this reason I choose Manarah as the title for my new magazine presenting poetry and other writings, as these writings will shed light, give hope, solace and perhaps the missing hint on which direction to choose or better not follow. Every issue of the magazine will deal with one subject. As in the old Persian language, Divan is the expression for a collection of poetry, every issue of the magazine MANARAH is a Divan, a collection of writings.
Both the idea for this magazine like work of art and the first three issues of Manarah were developed with respect and as my contribution to An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street, in the year 2011. The bombing of al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad in 2007 is only one of countless acts of violence Iraq is going through since the beginning of war in 2003. This had vital influence on the texts and themes I choose for the first three issues, such were “War” “Time” and “Love” presenting poems that have been written over a period of four centuries. The writings refer to thoughts and feelings of people going through wars that might go on for an unknown or unforeseeable length of time and to the hope that all violence and grief will sometime be overcome by love.
Annette C. Disslin
www.al-mutanabbi-street.bleikloetzle.de
|
