National Anthem

Description

National Anthem is a new poetry collection from award-winning journalist and writer Mohamed Hassan. It charts an intimate course through memories from his childhood and upbringing in Egypt, New Zealand, Turkey and elsewhere to untangle the intersecting traumas of migration, islamophobia and grief and ask difficult questions about the essence of nationalism and belonging.

Mohamed Hassan was the winner of the 2015 NZ National Poetry Slam, a TEDx fellow and recipient of the Gold Trophy at the 2017 New York Radio Awards. His poetry has been watched and shared widely online and taught in schools internationally.

At once visceral and precise, it propels you forward, forward, like a great story teller in a hushed room” - John Campbell, journalist and presenter “New Zealand literature – and I would argue world literature – needs this book, now more than ever.” - Tusiata Avia, author of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt “Mohamed’s writing has opened my eyes to the extraordinary power of slam poetry” - Lynda Chanwai-Earle, 2019 Writer in Residence at International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML)