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Title: The Roads of the Roma; a PEN anthology of Gypsy writers (Threatened Literature Series (PEN American Center)) by Ian Hancock, Rajko Djuric, Siobhan Dowd ISBN: 0-900458-90-9 Publisher: University of Hertfordshire Press Pub. Date: October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Roma in their own voice
Comment: For centuries, many voices have spoken for the Roma, as often as not with ill will. In this magnificent collection, the Roma speak with a vibrant voice all their own.

The book opens with a brilliant, if all-too-brief, introduction to Roma history by Dr. Ian Hancock, a Professor of Romany Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, who has made the study of the Rom migration, enslavement, literature, art and political life and sociology his life's work.

The 44 poems that follow are ordered along a time line broken into sections and beginning with the Roma's departure from India with the first Ghaznavid raids in 997.

Twenty-nine contemporary Romany poets, including editors Rajko Djuric, Siobhan Dowd and Dr. Hancock, created most pieces. But no collection of Rom poets would be complete without work from the renowned Papusza (Poland, c. 1910-1987) or Leksa Manus (Latvia, 1942-1997), each of whose work is also represented. The title comes from Manus' searing 38-line poem of the same name, which traces the countries and places the people have traveled after opening with these lines:

"Each night, my God, before I close my eyes,

I see before me the roads of the Roma.

But where, my God, is the long lost road,

The one true road, the first one traveled?"

Roughly half the works were written in Romani, but according to Hancock seven Rom translators--Dowd, Burton Bollag, Tom Fugalli, Ian MacAndless, Minna Proctor, Sinead ni Shuinear and Anika Weiss--have remained faithful to the feel, heart and soul of the original works. I can believe it.

Listen to these lines from Djura Makhotin's poem, "Give me a string to play on":

"Oh my life is a silver mirror/The years are its frame.

"I cannot see the time ahead/ And what has passed I have forgotten./In youth it seems every day is long,/When one is older a year is like the breadth of a finger./I am not guilty but I know the truth,/The road of life leads me./I am not sad, I swear an oath, give me a string to play on."

After hearing work from this book at a reading, I rushed to buy this book. You should too. Alyssa A. Lappen

Rating: 5
Summary: The Roma Writing About Roma
Comment: This book is a treasure not to be hidden away on a bookseller's Web page, but one to be purchased and read by all who care about ideas expressed by voices formerly silenced, but now being heard. The Romani voice has always existed, but when have we, the general public, had the opportunity to hear what it has been saying? This book gives us that chance, and what an expressive voice it is! The authors speak with eloquence and their messages cannot be missed. These are writings by Roma, not those of the non-Roma writing about them. Surely more books in English by Romani authors will follow this one. Just as surely, they will help dispel the myths and stereotypes which have been created about the Roma over the long centuries. Included in this book is an interesting introduction which deals mostly with the history of the Romani people, also written by a Rom. For those of you who care about the "feel" and "look" of a book, let me say that I found them to be a perfect fit for the contents of this book and do not detract in any way. This is a gem to be read and reread.

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