As Death eavesdrops
December 07th, 2016
The Clothesline Swing (Nightwood $19.95), Danny Ramadan’s first novel in English, draws inspiration from Arabian Tales of One Thousand and One Nights, as two lovers lament their separation from Syria. From the mountains of Syria, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, the characters describe journeys through the valleys of Lebanon, the seas of Turkey and the heat of Egypt before reaching Canada. Hakawati, a storyteller, tells fables to his dying male partner. Meanwhile Death, a looming character in a dark house, shares a house with the two men, eavesdropping on their secrets.
Former Syrian refugee Ahmad Danny Ramadan of Vancouver is a journalist with bylines in the Washington Post, The Guardian and Foreign Policy. His history of working with organizations in the Middle East as well as his personal experience as a refugee have made him deeply involved in volunteerism, democracy, social justice and LGBTQ refugees’ rights. In 2016, he was Community Outreach Coordinator of QMUNITY, British Columbia’s Queer Resource Centre, as well as Grand Marshal for Vancouver’s Gay Pride Parade. Prior to his first novel, he had published two collections of short stories in Arabic.
BOOKS:
The Clothesline Swing (Nightwood 2016) $19.95 978-0-88971-332-1
Leave a Reply