Thursday, August 16, 2007

I deeply admire Taslima Nasrin; not only is she a gorgeous poet, she is also a powerful human rights activist. My book Fruitflesh includes an excerpt from her poem "Eve Oh Eve" (translated from the Bengali by Carolyne Wright and Mohammad Nurul Huda)--I love how it ends with the lines "Eve, if you get hold of the fruit/don't ever refrain from eating"; it captures Nasrin's sense of both defiance and celebration. She has been the subject of numerous death threats from Islamic fundamentalists over the years, but she continues to speak out, to speak her truth. I was disturbed to hear that she was attacked at her recent book release event. I am even more disturbed to learn that now she is facing charges for "inciting religious tensions". If I can find any actions to protest this, I will let you know.

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