Poetry for a Decade of Ramadans

Less than a week away from the start of Ramadan, we are incredibly excited to announce the first full-length poetry collection from writer, artist, activist and dear friend of Writ Large, Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed—Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe: Poetry a Day Over a Decade of Ramadans.

The beautiful cover is based on Taz’s own painting (please, check out her work) and Judeth, who did the super hot design and layout.

We love Grasping, but we might be tiny bit biased. So let’s see what some other people have said of Taz’s book:

In Grasping At This Planet Just To Believe, Tanzila Ahmed’s inspired and inspiring new collection, the speaker declares, “In my truth, / faith / is sung / with love.” It’s this love that gives these poems so much power, beauty, tenderness, bite, and luminosity. To be Muslim in America, Ahmed reminds us, is in itself a daily practice of defiance and vigilance, of self-discovery and self-love, especially when one is Brown, a woman, and an activist. To survive and thrive, one must be in solidarity with others, and these poems—all composed during ten years of Poem-a-Day for Ramadan, an inclusive, multifaith online community which Ahmed founded—speak to just how effectively poetry can help us bear witness to one another’s struggles related to illness, grief, and victimization, as well as to our collective triumphs, joys, and healing journeys. This book shows us how “Ramadan is about empathy, and giving, and the humanity of all,” and invites readers to share in its generous energy too.

— Faisal Mohyuddin, author of Elsewhere: An Elegy

I laughed and cried and got goosebumps more than once! Every one of Taz’s poems hit a spiritual nerve and together this collection makes up an incredibly comforting and uplifting companion for seekers — both in and out of Ramadan.

— Edina Lekovic, creator of L.A. Muslim History

Tanzila Ahmed writes at the intersections of spirituality, grief, community, and ritual—inspired by the many moons and phases of Ramadan. With this collection, Ahmed invites us into her singular experience—seeped in LA sunsets and Spring wildflowers, Eid wishes and midnight contemplations about what it means to be a Muslim woman, artist and activist in these harrowing times.

— Neelanjana Banerjee, Kaya Press

And from his Foreword to the collection, Kazim Ali writes:

Following the cycles of the moon in its structure, as does the month of Ramadan itself, this book is an essential testament to the ways a spiritual life and a physical life are not separate from one another but one unified lived experience. “Wisdom is there on the edge,” she writes, “and we are halfway there.” Taz Ahmed has made a beautiful book and I am grateful to her for it.

We agree with every single word the above people have said about Grasping at This Planet Just to Believe.

Pre-Order now. Ships at the start of April.