God, Does Humanity Exist?

by Kamand Kojouri

In this powerful and evocative collection, poet Kamand Kojouri explores themes of resistance, empowerment, and hope. The four sections (Cries of Common Pain, Call to Action, Songs of Hope, and Echoes of Hope) are skilfully interwoven and resonate with urgency and relevance.

During these turbulent times when the world at large is experiencing a crisis in humanity, God, Does Humanity Exist? is a beacon of light that encourages us to think and act with more compassion, empathy, and understanding.

63 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Kamand Kojouri was born in Tehran and raised in Dubai and Toronto. She is an Assistant Professor of English at the American University in Dubai (AUD), where she teaches courses in composition, literature, and creative writing. Kamand holds an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing from the UK, where the first chapter of her historical novel was shortlisted for the prestigious Peters Fraser + Dunlop Award and published in CityNovel 2016.

Kamand’s work spans multiple genres and has been featured in leading international publications, including the BBC, El País, and The Irish Times. Her poetry collections, The Eternal Dance: Love Poetry and Prose and God, Does Humanity Exist? are not only celebrated for their literary merit but also for their social impact, with all royalties donated to charitable organisations like The Trevor Project and Child Foundation. She also champions environmental sustainability, funding the planting of more than 4,000 trees in Sub-Saharan Africa to date.

In 2024, her short story ‘Felix’ was shortlisted for the esteemed Rhys Davies National Short Story Prize and published in A Dictionary of Light: The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology. She was also recently commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to write a short story, ‘The Market Photographer’, which was broadcast in August.

Kamand’s teaching and research are deeply rooted in social responsibility. She is committed to highlighting marginalised and disenfranchised voices through her courses and creative work. Her research interests include transcultural identities, intersectional feminism, short fiction, poetry, coming-of-age novels, and philosophical fiction. She also co-founded the AUD Spoken Word Series, an initiative that fosters inclusivity by amplifying diverse voices and cultivating a vibrant culture of storytelling, dialogue, and shared humanity.

Beyond her academic and literary pursuits, Kamand collaborates with international artists, musicians, and charities. She is passionate about classical music, jazz, and swimming, and believes in the power of literature to inspire, provoke, and drive positive change in society.

Reviews

[Farah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer - I received a free digital download of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The title of the book did make me curious about what the book held within - the question of which was answered in the introduction by the author. He states that “The title of this book is meant to make us think, because whilst I assert the existence of an intangible, incomprehensible, and inexplicable God, I question the existence of humanity.” which I think is an incredibly interesting assertion and one I hadn’t thought about very much.

To say humanity is missing would be an understatement when keeping up to date with world news and current events. But I’d never really thought about the lack of humanity before and I think that is one of the aims of the author. Every body sees this lack of humanity, but how many of us actually question it?

The introduction has made me all the more interested to read the verse contained inside and after reading through the book, I can say I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed all of the prose and I’m interested to read what else the author has written. I think this is a must read, it touches on some taboo topics and sheds light on things I believe the mass majority need to hear and contemplate.

[Pao Vilchis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And all we do to extinguish this hellfire is sigh, shrug, like and share”

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions are my own and this did not affect my review in any way.

4.25 stars

When I was asked to read and review this book I was a little skeptical whether I was going to enjoy it or not. Poetry is very hit or miss for me, specially religious poetry (I later found out it is not religious) so I was definitely nervous. However, I am happy to say that I loved this poetry collection and I can’t believe I had doubts about whether I would like it or not.

This is a powerful and evocative poetry collection comprised of four main sections (Cries of Common Pain, Call to Action, Songs of Hope, and Echoes of Hope) in which the author explores themes of resistance, empowerment, and hope.

I loved this collection, the note from the author is a must read and I overall this collection was so heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. This collection is thought provoking and it allows you to analyze what you are doing to make this world a better place.

If you are concerned that this is religious poetry, it is not, this is not a poetry collection about god. This is focused on humans, and what we as humans are doing and what we are supposed to do.

This is not a book to make us feel bad about what we do and don’t do, this book is questioning our humanity and what we are doing in order to help one another. Don’t feel bad reading this book. Feel inspired by this book to be better, to do better. The topics this deals with are so important that I believe this is a must read.

This is a short, important collection, this sheds light on important issues that we sometimes neglect and gives us the opportunity to understand and mend out ways.

I will buy myself a physical copy of this book because it is definitely worth reading.

“Be like the sun that fell in love with the moon and shared all its light”

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of Kojouri's latest poetry collection.

This was a thought-provoking read that resonated with the thoughts and feelings of many right now. The words in the poems were timeless - relatable to all forms of prejudice, inequality, suffering across the world in the past, present and future.

To me, this wasn't a poetry collection about God but focusses more on the state of humanity and how it is up to us, as humans, to make the changes we need in order to make our world a positive, safe and loving home for all.
There are lines within the collection that really struck a chord and felt inspirational to read. I will definitely be re-reading this collection again in the future!