Synopsis "Van Gogh Never Killed Himself!: Over Fifty Years of Free-Form Poems (in English)"
VAN GOGH NEVER KILLED HIMSELF! Over Fifty Years of Free-Form Poems by Paul Smith Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1945, Paul Smith began composing poems at the age of 8 on his way to school. Here are most of his free-form poems composed over the past 54 years influenced by the 'Beat Poets' and the Sufi Poets. Here are poems composed at home or travelling in the East and the West while giving readings of his poetry and his translations of the great Persian poet Hafiz of Shiraz and others. Here are poems about human love (many on or for his wife Ann... see picture below) on grief, about evolution and God in human form and humans (such as Van Gogh and Milarepa, Isadora Duncan & Theolonious Monk) and the environment and the past, present and predicting what is to come. Many of these poems were composed while translating the works of Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, Kabir, Obeyd Zakani, Jahan Khutan, Meher Baba (Huma), Lalla Ded, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Farid, Nazir Akbarabadi, Ghalib, Iqbal, Baba Farid, 'Attar, Majnun, Mansur Hallaj, Abu Sa'id, Sarmad and many others while writing hundreds of strict rhyming poems, novels, screenplays, essays, children's books, plays, where he continues to tell the inner and outer story of his passage through this mysterious, wonderful, but sometimes a very painful and... an involving, eventful life. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" 702 pages. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'."It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran."Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart."I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author of his own poems inspired by Hafiz). amazon.com/author/smithpa
