World Leaders’ Favourite Poems: A Book of Peace - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1902638980 ISBN 13: 9781902638980

Publisher: Parthian Books, 2008

Synopsis

With works chosen by national leaders, prime ministers, and presidents—including Tony Blair, Ariel Sharon, and Gerhard Schröder—this collection of international poetry features world famous names, including Jorge Luis Borges, Rudyard Kipling, Rainer Maria Rilke, William Wordsworth, Kahil Gibran, and Pär Lagerkvist. The volume also includes personal contributions from some of these influential world leaders themselves, such as AJP Abdul Kalam and Ludwig Scotty.

About this title

About the Author:

Mehmet Basci is a Kurdish writer who lives in Switzerland. Micheline Calmy-Rey is the former president of Switzerland.

Review:

Diary NotesSo what about the cultural tastes of the politicians who make immigration policy? Welsh publisher Parthian has just announced World Leaders' Favourite Poems compiled by Mehmet Basci, A Turkish Kurd now living in Switzerland who spent five years tracking down the poetic choices of national leaders with the admirably idealistic aim of reflecting "on our common hopes, fears and pleasures". Of course, some in office when he began, such as Tony Blair (Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier"), are no longer so. But Gordon Brown demonstrates the awesome scope of executive power in his choice of a poem by the American James Stockinger, which he often quotes in speeches: "The hands of other people lift us from the womb. / The hands of other people grow the food we eat, / weave the clothes we wear and / build the shelters we inhabit." When told of Brown's choice, Stockinger was flattered, but he also felt duty-bound to explain that the - slightly misquoted - lines were actually from his doctoral thesis and not a poem at all. But if the prime minister says it's a poem ... Stockinger authorized a few judicious carriage returns and what was prose is now officially verse in the new anthology.Nick Wroe, Guardian Review Saturday 15 March 2008

About this edition

• Publisher: Parthian Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1902638980
• ISBN 13: 9781902638980
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128
• Editor: Basci Mehmet