War / Torn

by Hasan Namir

Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Lambda Literary Award-winner Hasan Namir's debut collection of poetry, WAR/TORN, is a brazen and lyrical interrogation of religion and masculinity--the performance and sense of belonging they delineate and draw together. Namir summons prayer, violence, and the sensuality of love, revisiting tenets of Islam and dictates of war to break the barriers between the profane and the sacred.

"WAR/TORN mourns, loves and burns all the derogatory impulses of our continuous present. This book is of and against our time. WAR/TORN is a breathless elegy in the most defiantly tender poetics you can imagine."—Jordan Scott

"WAR/TORN reminds us of how dexterous and wholly embracing poetry can be. In the hands of Hasan Namir, poetry spans from origin stories to the afterlife; it holds blessings and erotic provocations, fear and forgiveness, and tangled tangled love."—Amber Dawn

"Written in emotional and visceral language Hasan Namir's poems are bold, exploring the harsh expectations of masculinity, the battles we wage in our worlds large and small, and the holiness in desire. In these poems there are no dichotomies but the full breadth of human experience, from the roughest to the tenderest moments."--"WAR/TORN collides and bridges together worlds of chaos and love and sex and violence and lust and hope. Beautiful, heartbreaking and an unflinching look at the terrifying reality of homophobia, war and shame. A collection of poems that asks how do we reconcile all the parts of our identities and histories, with the sincerity and caring touch only Hasan can bring to it."—Daniel Zomparelli

"Precise and relentless in its interrogation of doctrine, intimacy, and masculinities, Hasan Namir's poetry is informed by violence and infused with tenderness. WAR/TORN slashes perception to ribbons and cradles the remains."—Carleigh Baker

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Gay

96 pages, ebook

First published April 10, 2019

Reviews

[Bo Nobo Nobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relatable and sensational poetry compilation. Some parts read a little blasphemous almost but overall, I loved it. Loved God in Pink too and looking forward to what this inspiring and amazing author has in the works.

[Rheathebookwormdreamergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry collection is just amazing.

[johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

In War Torn, Namir writes about religion, queerness, and masculinity. What does it mean to be gay in a household that deems it a sin to love who you love? Laced with honesty and sensuality, Namir’s poetry has found a special place in my heart.

[Khepre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of poems. My favorite poems include:
“Paris”
“The Piano”
“Blood Spot”
Jannah (1)”

[Taylor Givens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read God in Pink immediately after it was published in 2015. I found it on a coworkers desk and because the cover and title are so beautiful I knew I wanted to get my hands on it. It was, by no means, a favorite but it left a huge impact. I still think about it and recommend it often. When a saw that Namir was publishing a new work, I instantly added it to my TBR. Unfortunately, i'm a bit disappointed by this. I'm not saying that it's bad. I don't think it is. I'm saying that I didn't understand most of it and that's ok. This book isn't *for* me. I hope that those who it is for find their way to it. Mosque/Internal was my favorite of the collection. There are plenty of lovely lines throughout.

My two favorites: "we can speak within each other voiceless, mouths raging in intimacy" and "I can exist in you the other me"

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intensely moving and memorable collection. Namir's speaker is at once abandoned by father, faith, community and society and at once embraced by a confident declaration of queer identity. Belonging is found in the bold assertion of self, a courageous and artistic revelation of who one is, and knowing one is not alone. There is a confident sense of wholeness in the speaker, even for being War / Torn.

[Inverted · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s hard (and maybe in certain contexts, beside the point) to critique "poetries of witness" because there’s no decoupling the poems from their (historical, traumatic) sources. In that context, the poems serve as both museum and map, neither being more important than the other.

With that considered, War / Torn could've gone much further in its dualistic task of recounting / exploring. Hasan Namir, in this collection, tends to stop at the exact same spots of inquiry or provocation. Speaking of, the poems have some shock value, which serves as the life force of this collection, with not a lot else happening underneath. Consider 1987:

1987. What do you remember?
Our family lost 13
Oh and you
You were born

Instead of, say, exploring those lives lost and the many ways those converge / diverge with his (perhaps as a sequence of poems), the lives here are statistic, hence static. A choice that promotes shock value, but is a missed opportunity as motif, which could've had a bigger payoff.

This collection has some good bones (no double entendre meant), but falls a bit short with what it accomplishes lingustically and thematically.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I'm the right reviewer for this book.

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I had a hard time understanding a number of the poems in this collection, but I wanted to keep reading. The most powerful poems for me, and my favorites, were “Children of Adam,” “Mosque/Internal,” and (to a little bit of a lesser extent) “Shreds.”

[Adrienne Lujan · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Stonewall Book Awards)

This book is a bit different than I would normally read, but it's these kinds of books that do need to be read. This book discusses religion, struggles with religion, masculinity, etc. These are all aspects of society that are not discussed very often but should be.