{"id":15529,"date":"2025-03-26T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?post_type=product&#038;p=15529"},"modified":"2025-09-27T15:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T20:12:39","slug":"flight-to-samarkand","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/flight-to-samarkand\/","title":{"rendered":"The Flight to Samarkand"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/books\/abdellatif-laabi\/\"><b>Abdellatif\u00a0La\u00e2bi<\/b><\/a><\/h1>\n<h2>Translated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/books\/guillemette-johnston\">Guillemette Johnston<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/books\/allan-johnston\">Allan Johnston<\/a><\/h2>\n<h3>The Flight to Samarkand<\/h3>\n<p>ISBN: 9781956921373<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>pbk., 152 pages<\/p>\n<p>(April, 2025)\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In his memoir<i> The Flight to Samarkand<\/i>, internationally renowned poet and activist Abdellatif La\u00e2bi examines his life as it nears its end, meditating on mortality and considering what will remain of his writing after his passing.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Through the guise of a third-person doppelg\u00e4nger, Monsieur Barde, another instance of the \u201cDear Double\u201d that consistently haunts La\u00e2bi, we share a lifetime of his experiences as he exposes his feelings, fears, and beliefs while reflecting on his childhood in Morocco, his years as a political prisoner, his life in exile in France, his journeys and readings at literary festivals, his sojourns in Andalusia and other regions, and his confinement during the devastation of the Covid pandemic.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The famous Iranian tale \u201cThe Vizier and Death,\u201d by the 12th century mystic and poet Fariduddin Attar, underlies this memoir and serves as a foil to La\u00e2bi\u2019s own movement toward the meeting with Lady Death.`<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Allan and Guillemette Johnston\u2019s masterful and sensitive new translation makes the depth and power of\u00a0Abdellatif La\u00e2bi\u2019s work accessible to an anglophone audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Thalia Pandiri, former editor of <i>Metamorphoses<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Guillemette and Allan Johnston\u2019s\u00a0incisive\u00a0translations\u00a0render Abdellatif La\u00e2bi\u2019s bold writing in an English that is both natural and deftly composed, with an intentionality and expertise that is incredibly satisfying. La\u00e2bi\u2019s compelling writing\u2014by turns angry, despairing, musing, sometimes tender, and always fierce\u2014is given a new voice here, one that startles the reader awake with the full force of the power of language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Molly Lynde-Recchia, Ph.D., former editor of <i>Transference<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">At the heart of <i>The Flight to Samarkand,<\/i> written by \u201cMonsieur Barde\u201d (a play on the word <i>bard<\/i>), lie the unflinching reflections about what the poet\u2019s children must have missed when their father spent years in prison. Other hard-hitting passages are about friendship and companionship, and the role of the poet who writes in an acquired language, and who has lost his natural audience. Spoiler alert: these issues get ingenious and entertaining treatment, but aren\u2019t exactly resolved. The distinctive irony and lack of presumption that characterize Abdellatif La\u00e2bi\u2019s style make for a truly enjoyable read in the graceful translation by Allan and Guillemette Johnston.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">\u2014Jacqueline Schaalje, poet and former translation editor for <i>Mayday<\/i> magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abdellatif\u00a0La\u00e2bi<br \/>\n9781956921373<br \/>\nMemoir from the renowned poet\/activist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[236,17,390],"product_tag":[343,441,45,382,109,96,440,129,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-15529","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-books","7":"product_cat-dialogos","8":"product_cat-north-africa","9":"product_tag-abdellatif-laabi","10":"product_tag-allan-johnston","11":"product_tag-fiction","12":"product_tag-fiction-translation","13":"product_tag-france","14":"product_tag-french","15":"product_tag-guillemette-johnston","16":"product_tag-morocco","17":"product_tag-north-africa","19":"first","20":"instock","21":"featured","22":"taxable","23":"shipping-taxable","24":"purchasable","25":"product-type-variable","26":"berocket_lgv_grid","27":"berocket_lgv_list_grid"},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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