Five Scenes from a Failed Revolution

In Five Scenes from a Failed Revolution, Etwebi deftly
moves through time, space, argument and protest to
capture the essence of the 2011 Arab Spring along
with fragments from the poet’s past. The work brims
with astonishing technique and lyricism, holding
both the poet’s personal history and that of the
onlooking world. ‘Oh bird, from the treetop, can you
see Etwebia? / Can you smell the orange blossoms
of my dead brother?’ In this utt erly arresting image
taken from ‘Norwegian Blues’, Etwebi eff ortlessly
transcends the present, shooting his poems way
into an atmosphere without end. As tragic as it
sometimes feels, this for me is the collection’s most
remarkable achievement.

Etwebi maintains his composure as a lyric poet…
insisting on distilled moments of revelation while
addressing his nation Libya’s most turbulent epochs
… [these] poems provide solace and rejuvenate,
holding on to memory and the purity of their
anguish. This is a stunning, beautiful book, one I’ve
been awaiting for a long time.