Overview

In the complex world dynamics of today, it feels more important than ever to remind ourselves that cultural heritage outlasts and outweighs political climates and that art is one of the vehicles through which we can transcend our differences to find our common humanity. Tracing back to the most ancient literary texts, we see that although the details of our lives and environments change with the times, the basic fears and aspirations of humankind remain the same. We look to the arts to show us what we most need to see about ourselves-that we are in the end, all of us, a human family. The Conference of the Birds, the 12th Century Sufi allegorical poem by Persian poet Attãr, deals with these universal themes. Conference tells the story of the seeker's journey towards God, towards the evolution of self through wisdom, love, openness, and connection. In it, all the birds of the world convene and determine that they need a ruler. Such a leader is known in the form of the mythic and divine bird, Simorgh, who resides in a distant land. The journey to this faraway place leads the birds through seven valleys of understanding, the first of which requires them to cast off all the preconceived ideas and dogma in their thinking, and the final of which requires annihilation of the self in order to attain complete communion with the divine. Beginning with the discord and lack of purpose of the birds and culminating in the discovery that they are all individually and together Simorgh, The Conference of the Birds is a timeless model of transforming confusion and lack of unity into the realization of harmony and purpose. Christopher's piece, released in 2018, traces the metaphoric journey of the birds in seven short character pieces, each lasting between one and three minutes, and each focusing on a highly defined musical personality evoked by the corresponding valley. Much of the string writing is inspired by the flocking movement of birds; that is, there is a 'group logic'-a kind of unity of movement and purpose in which all the parts are highly interdependent.In the fall of 2019, the Argus Quartet, who were performing The Conference of the Birds, contacted Christopher to discuss the possibility of reciting poems in performance between the musical pieces, and Christopher recommended that Melissa write the text. The resulting poems, which became Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings, respond most intimately to Christopher's musical interpretation of the valleys but were written, as well, in consultation with Sholeh Wolpé's, contemporary translation of Attar's The Conference of the Birds (W. W. Norton & Co). Rather than retelling Attar's allegory, Melissa's poems intend to provide imagery and language to illuminate and accentuate specific qualities of the sound journey Christopher has created in response to Attãr. In order to tease out Attãr's narrative sequence, Melissa has woven mini summaries, as well as quotes from various translations, through the text. It is our hope that by uniting the artistic disciplines of poetry, composition, visual art, and performance, Attar's vital allegory will be brought further to life on the stage and in other artistic mediums. Melissa Studdard & Christopher Theofanidis January 19, 2020 Manasota Key, Florida

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9781733023313

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Reviews

"In a tyrannical, divided, and fearful time, we are gifted with travel in a state of grace and awe in Melissa Studdard's exquisite multi-genre book Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings. Her poetry brings together the ancient and contemporary, East and West, the individual and collaborative, and the arts of poetry, music, translation, and painting. Studdard writes in response to Christopher Theofanidis's composition, The Conference of Birds, a musical interpretation of the allegorical poem by the ancient Persian poet Attãr, translated by Sholeh Wolpé. There are echoes here of the music-driven language of the ecstatic mystical poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins: ""Your wings / flame to flight--arching and lifting, / wimpling and waving. Soon / ... you are one again with the wonder / of dappled light."" Studdard's poems transport us to the visionary world where art generates art and in which we communicate intimately with each other across the millennia and languages and the vast Earth's geography. Aliki Barnstone, author of Dwelling A mosaic of beauty, Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings weaves together the brilliant poems of Melissa Studdard and the artistic genius of composer Christopher Theofanidis, along with artwork by Elisa Vendramin, creating a perfect combination of splendor. Studdard, who is one of the best American poets writing today, creates poems that exist with both an exquisiteness and passion, poems where love is birdsong and breath; her work, so gifted, skillful, and tender you want to give it / to everyone you meet. Combine this with the striking elegance of Theofanidis's musical compositions on the page, visually bringing to mind the vision of birds on a wire and birds in flight. Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Hourglass Musuem Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings is a cross-cultural dialogue and a significant literary and artistic contribution. It blends poetry and music to unsurpassed effect to tell the tale of perseverance, survival, and search for knowledge. The book is inspired by Attãr's poetical masterpiece, The Conference of the Birds, the story of a journey that starts with the birds' search for the legendary Simorgh only to end with the discovery of self. Sheema Kalbasi, author of Seven Valleys of Love These poems flow from the unmistakable voice of the Beloved, turning as they do through both breath and shadow to lift us toward an incandescent flight. We are at once saved by the mystic knowing of Att�r deftly translated by Sholeh Wolpé whose quotations are both inspiration and counterpoint to the wisdom and originality unlocked in Studdard's sublime poetry. If everyone understood the authentic meaning of these verses and the empowerment of infinite existence, this purgatory we call earth would transform at once to heaven. Lois P. Jones, author of Night Ladder"

In a tyrannical, divided, and fearful time, we are gifted with travel in a state of grace and awe in Melissa Studdard's exquisite multi-genre book Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings. Her poetry brings together the ancient and contemporary, East and West, the individual and collaborative, and the arts of poetry, music, translation, and painting. Studdard writes in response to Christopher Theofanidis's composition, The Conference of Birds, a musical interpretation of the allegorical poem by the ancient Persian poet Atta r, translated by Sholeh Wolpe . There are echoes here of the music-driven language of the ecstatic mystical poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins: Your wings / flame to flight--arching and lifting, / wimpling and waving. Soon / ... you are one again with the wonder / of dappled light. Studdard's poems transport us to the visionary world where art generates art and in which we communicate intimately with each other across the millennia and languages and the vast Earth's geography. Aliki Barnstone, author of Dwelling A mosaic of beauty, Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings weaves together the brilliant poems of Melissa Studdard and the artistic genius of composer Christopher Theofanidis, along with artwork by Elisa Vendramin, creating a perfect combination of splendor. Studdard, who is one of the best American poets writing today, creates poems that exist with both an exquisiteness and passion, poems where love is birdsong and breath; her work, so gifted, skillful, and tender you want to give it / to everyone you meet. Combine this with the striking elegance of Theofanidis's musical compositions on the page, visually bringing to mind the vision of birds on a wire and birds in flight. Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Hourglass Musuem Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings is a cross-cultural dialogue and a significant literary and artistic contribution. It blends poetry and music to unsurpassed effect to tell the tale of perseverance, survival, and search for knowledge. The book is inspired by Atta r's poetical masterpiece, The Conference of the Birds, the story of a journey that starts with the birds' search for the legendary Simorgh only to end with the discovery of self. Sheema Kalbasi, author of Seven Valleys of Love These poems flow from the unmistakable voice of the Beloved, turning as they do through both breath and shadow to lift us toward an incandescent flight. We are at once saved by the mystic knowing of Attar deftly translated by Sholeh Wolpe whose quotations are both inspiration and counterpoint to the wisdom and originality unlocked in Studdard's sublime poetry. If everyone understood the authentic meaning of these verses and the empowerment of infinite existence, this purgatory we call earth would transform at once to heaven. Lois P. Jones, author of Night Ladder

In a tyrannical, divided, and fearful time, we are gifted with travel in a state of grace and awe in Melissa Studdard's exquisite multi-genre book Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings. Her poetry brings together the ancient and contemporary, East and West, the individual and collaborative, and the arts of poetry, music, translation, and painting. Studdard writes in response to Christopher Theofanidis's composition, The Conference of Birds, a musical interpretation of the allegorical poem by the ancient Persian poet Attãr, translated by Sholeh Wolpé. There are echoes here of the music-driven language of the ecstatic mystical poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins: ""Your wings / flame to flight--arching and lifting, / wimpling and waving. Soon / ... you are one again with the wonder / of dappled light."" Studdard's poems transport us to the visionary world where art generates art and in which we communicate intimately with each other across the millennia and languages and the vast Earth's geography. Aliki Barnstone, author of Dwelling A mosaic of beauty, Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings weaves together the brilliant poems of Melissa Studdard and the artistic genius of composer Christopher Theofanidis, along with artwork by Elisa Vendramin, creating a perfect combination of splendor. Studdard, who is one of the best American poets writing today, creates poems that exist with both an exquisiteness and passion, poems where love is birdsong and breath; her work, so gifted, skillful, and tender you want to give it / to everyone you meet. Combine this with the striking elegance of Theofanidis's musical compositions on the page, visually bringing to mind the vision of birds on a wire and birds in flight. Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Hourglass Musuem Like a Bird with a Thousand Wings is a cross-cultural dialogue and a significant literary and artistic contribution. It blends poetry and music to unsurpassed effect to tell the tale of perseverance, survival, and search for knowledge. The book is inspired by Attãr's poetical masterpiece, The Conference of the Birds, the story of a journey that starts with the birds' search for the legendary Simorgh only to end with the discovery of self. Sheema Kalbasi, author of Seven Valleys of Love These poems flow from the unmistakable voice of the Beloved, turning as they do through both breath and shadow to lift us toward an incandescent flight. We are at once saved by the mystic knowing of Attãr deftly translated by Sholeh Wolpé whose quotations are both inspiration and counterpoint to the wisdom and originality unlocked in Studdard's sublime poetry. If everyone understood the authentic meaning of these verses and the empowerment of infinite existence, this purgatory we call earth would transform at once to heaven. Lois P. Jones, author of Night Ladder

Author Information

MELISSA STUDDARD is the author of four books, including the poetry collection I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast. Her short writings have appeared or been featured in a wide variety of periodicals, such as The New York Times, POETRY, Psychology Today, The Guardian, and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day Series. Her work has been listed among Amazon's most gifted books and has garnered awards such as The Penn Review Poetry Prize, the International Book Award, and the REELpoetry Audience Choice Award. Website: https: //melissastuddard.com CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS' music has been performed by many of the world's leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony and New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera and the American Ballet Theatre. He is a two-time Grammy nominee, and his work, Rainbow Body, is one of the most performed works of the new era, having been performed by over 150 orchestras worldwide. Mr. Theofanidis is currently on the faculty at Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival. Website: https: //www.theofanidismusic.com ELISA VENDRAMIN is an Italian illustrator based between Reykjavik, Iceland and Trieste, Italy. She plays with abstraction in digital collages, exploring the delicate balance between full and empty, aiming to capture those atmospheres that are often hard to describe by words or by figurative illustration. She graduated with a Master's in Communication Design, from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London. Her artwork has been featured in cultural projects across Europe and Asia, most recently for the MuseumsQuartier, in Vienna, Austria, one of the largest districts for contemporary art and culture in the world. Website: http: //www.elisavendramin.co.uk

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