Martin Bidney, professor emeritus of English and comparative literature, has published East-West Poetry: A Western Poet Responds to Islamic Tradition in Sonnets, Hymns, and Songs (ßÙßÇÂþ»: Global Academic Publishing, 2010). The prose “Introduction” familiarizes the reader with the Qur’an in its relation to Jewish and Christian scriptures and to several of the author’s East-West mediator-mentors, including Goethe, Mickiewicz and Pushkin, with some of their Islam-related lyrics newly translated. The book itself contains 140 original Islam-related lyrics by Bidney, 108 of them verse commentaries on highlights from the Qur’an, with epigraphic scripture passages heading up the lyrics.
Martin Bidney
August 24, 2010