EXCITING NEW RELEASES
The Bow and the Reed is a video recording of Nineb Lamassu reciting his entire new collection of Ekphrastic poems at the British Museum's 'I am Ashurbanipal' exhibition.
The video has been produced by Assyria TV and Assyrian Language and Culture Trust. It is free to download for all of our customers, it is our way of saying thank you for supporting our language and culture through buying our publications and supporting our writers.
These ekphrastic poems were written by Nineb Lamassu as part of British Museum's 'I am Ashurbanipal' exhibition. The poet wrote these poems during a number of visits to the exhibition and they were translated by Jamie Osborn. This collection is the first set of ekphtrastic poems to have been published in Assyrian and Nineb Lamassu's innovative ways of toying with his language feels like one is reading the tablets of an ancient Assyrian scribe: each poem is formed like a clay tablet, each tablet with a different shape, beauty and content.
The Bow and the Reed
These ekphrastic poems were written by Nineb Lamassu as part of British Museum's 'I am Ashurbanipal' exhibition. The poet wrote these poems during a number of visits to the exhibition and they were translated by Jamie Osborn. This collection is the first set of ekphtrastic poems to have been published in Assyrian and Nineb Lamassu's innovative ways of toying with his language feels like one is reading the tablets of an ancient Assyrian scribe: each poem is formed like a clay tablet, each tablet with a different shape, beauty and content.
Review of Nineb Lamassu's poetry:
As Nazar Derani, remarks in his critical study of Modern Assyrian poetry on Nineb Lamassu's poetic language: "despite the fact he uses a vocabulary that is not in dialy use - to a degree that oblidges the reader to use a dictionary, but his carefully selected words contain an energy and a spiritual pecularity because he is able to feel these words and use them like they have never been used. Thus, he grants these words a new life, to be precise he turns them into new created beings. And this is not simple task!"
He goes further and comments on Nineb Lamassu's poetic imagery: "What sets Nineb Lamassu's poetic image aside from other poets is the fact that Nineb Lamassu's poetic image remains the same but keeps on moving along with the poet's vision, in an other word, he adds the element of montage; making you feel you are standing before a panoramic image where is in reality it is a single image having imagining it thus."
- Nazar Derani
Scribbles of a Madman
Scribbles of a Madman is Nineb Lamassu's 6th collection and the 5th which Enheduanna Publishing has published for Lamassu to date.
Lamassu has established himself as one of the most innovative modernist Assyrian poets of our time and his poetry requires no introduction.
In this collection of 308 pages of poetry, Lamassu is both romantic and critical: critical of the current status quo of Assyrian politics and the shortcomings of Assyrian intelligentsia. His poetry is the voice of a people in distress.
As a romantic, his poetry is both risqué and provoking, some might even see his romantic poems, in this collection, worthy of censorship. It is always a fine line between poems of sincere love emotions and poetic expressions of lovemaking, on one hand, and pornographic poetry on the other. In this collection, Lamassu toys with crossing this fine line and this is exactly what makes this collection an exciting read.
Nusara: Harmony of a Chirping Nest
This is a video recording of a wonderful evening of music and poetry which was produced by Enheduanna Publishing and presented by Assyrian Language and Culture Trust. It was held at the Fairfield School of Arts, Sydney - Australia.
The evening included poetry recitals by Nineb Lamassu, vocal performances by Ninos Tooma, Nina Tooma and Bratiel Sulaiman. It also included an introduction to Nineb Lamassu's poetry by Emil Gharib and a Q and A with the poet.
Poetry: Nineb Lamassu
Vocals: Ninos Tooma, Nina Tooma and Breitil Sulaiman
Saz: Ninos Tooma
Guitar: Breitil Sulaiman
Review: Email Gharib
MC: Tighlat Romel
Filming: Ninos El-Khouri and Hammurabi Barhi
Editing: Adel Danno
Produced by: Assyrian Language and Culture Trust together with Enheduanna Publishing
Snakes and ApplesThis new collection of Nineb Lamassu focuses on love and romance; and the intimacy enjoyed by two passionate lovers. At times we meet poems exploring the most intimate aspects of a love relationship, through risqué and erotic language, and at times we come across poems describing the pain of separation and breakups. No Assyrian poetry has dared to explore love in such a way as Nineb Lamassu has done in this new collection. Thus Snakes and Apples is a groundbreaking work of literature and will remain a reference point for the coming generations of Assyrian poets. |
Based in Cambridge, U.K, we are a publishing house specialising in publishing books and journals in Syriac and Modern Assyrian (both western and eastern Suret/Sureṯ/Ṣurayt).
Our objective is to preserve, promote and enrich these languages through the publication of original works of established littérateurs and litterateuses. These works can either be originally written in Syriac and Modern Assyrian or translations into these from other languages. Publishing works of established littérateurs and litterateuses aside, we encourage submissions from unpublished writers. We are especially keen to receive submissions from unpublished youth and female writers. Because our international printing partners excel in worldwide marketing and distribution, with branches in Europe, North America and Australia, we guarantee our authors quality printing and distribution. Enh̬eduanna: What's in a name? In his Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare has Juliet weighing down the importance of the 'name' as he has her saying: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." At Enh̬eduanna Publishing we would add... It would smell sweet by any other name, but sweeter with Enh̬eduanna. Enh̬eduanna was the priestess of the moon-god at Ur and she is acknowledged as history's first attested author, and not just history's first female author. She is the reputed editor of the famous temple hymns of Enki's temple at Eridu and she influenced a generation of scribes. Her works were copied and read centuries after her death. Her most celebrated poem is Nin-me-Šarra, a very difficult and challenging literary composition. This poem is an account of Enh̬eduanna's political difficulties and the miseries she suffered because of an individual called Lugal-ane and how she dealt with the whole affair from her exile. Enh̬eduanna is generally thought to have been the daughter of the famous king, Sargon of Akkad, since she is referred to as the 'daughter of Sargon'. However, we now know this was more of a metaphorical term rather than a reference to a real blood affiliation. Gwendolyn Leick, a scholar of Mesopotamian history, describes Enh̬eduanna as: "... an extraordinary woman... Brave and ready to defend herself... An able negotiator, a scholar and poet." We are thus proud to be called after her namesake. |