[caption id="attachment_900" align="aligncenter" width="202" caption="Book of the Edge. Poems by Ece Temelkuran, translated from Turkish by Deniz Perin."][/caption] Here at BOA, we like to say that a book has been "born" when it arrives at our office. Of course, that is our own biased opinion and could be debated a hundred different ways. When is a book born? Is it born when the author finally finishes the manuscript and submits it for publication? After it goes through the editorial and revision process? Once it is typeset? Once it is printed? Or perhaps a book isn't born until it is read... Or perhaps, in reading the book, the text undergoes a perpetual birthing process as it is reinterpreted by each individual reader. So what exactly am I saying here? I'm saying that Book of the Edge arrived at the BOA offices today! Book of the Edge is Deniz Perin's translation of a book by Turkish poet Ece Temelkuran. [caption id="attachment_897" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Book of the Edge arrives at BOA"][/caption] Ece Temelkuran is arguably Turkey’s most accomplished young writer. Born 1973 in Turkey, she has published eight books of poetry, prose, and nonfiction. She is an award-winning daily columnist for the Turkish paper, Milliyet, and served as a 2008 Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She is known for her cutting-edge journalism and, now, for her cutting-edge poetry as well. [caption id="attachment_898" align="aligncenter" width="164" caption="Ece Temelkuran. BOA poet."][/caption] Here's as excerpt from Deniz Perin's introduction to the book:  “The poems in Book of the Edge are not overtly political. Some are not political at all. Those that make political statements do so in an understated, allegorical way. Temelkuran’s goal in these poems is to explore the human condition, exposing our weaknesses and our potential. But her insight into, and interpretation of, this human condition are undoubtedly inspired, at least in part, by her socially-involved upbringing and her many years of work as a journalist.     "The book is, to use Baudelaire’s words, an invitation to a voyage. The speaker asks the reader to become an explorer, to leave the city and embark upon a journey of self-discovery. Although each poem stands alone, the poems work together to describe this quest; they turn into a modern, poetic fable, in which speaker, explorer, and reader merge into one. ‘You may not know it yet,’ says the speaker in the prologue, a wink at what is to come. ‘You are just like me.’” Perhaps some readers of this blog are primarily interested in American poetry and are wary of taking a chance on a Turkish poet who they've never heard of or read before - it's understandable. But we urge you to take a chance on this book. The poetry is stunning, contemporary, edgy and guaranteed to surprise and evoke wonder with every turn of the page. Take a chance on Book of the Edge. Help us welcome the newest BOA baby to the world! [caption id="attachment_899" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Book of the Edge fanned out on BOA conference table."][/caption]