New Collection Anthologizes Taliban Poetry

Afghanistan has a long and rich literary tradition, particularly storytelling through poetry. This poetic heritage is well-known, and still often practiced, throughout the country, even by members of the Taliban.
A new collection, edited and translated by British researchers living in Kandahar, anthologizes 250 contemporary poems by members of the Taliban. The anthology collects poems from magazines and other published pieces from the 1980s and 1990s and features post-9/11 poetry from the Taliban's website. The poems venture beyond political extremism with themes of generosity, love, grief and passion. The diverse topics explored include foreign invasion, from the Soviets in 1979 to the Americans and NATO forces today, to jihad, to the beauty of the Afghan landscape. 
Faisal Devji is a professor at Oxford University in England. An expert on the Taliban, Faisal wrote the preface to "The Poetry of the Taliban."
The poems venture beyond political and religious extremism, with themes of generosity, love, grief and passion. 

Faisal Devji is a professor at Oxford University in England. He’s an expert on the Taliban and wrote the preface to this new collection of poems.  For more, go to: http://www.thetakeaway.org/2012/jul/20/new-collection-anthologizes-taliban-poetry/