My Only Oedipal Complaint

Drawing together disparate worlds: the Lebanese and the Western; the academic, brimming with literary allusion, and the soul raw with suffering; the political and the personal, Omar Sabbagh weaves lyrical, intelligent pieces that range over family relationships, love, passion and war, always with something new to say and a distinctive way of saying it.

About the Author :
Dr. Omar Sabbagh is a widely published poet and critic. His work has appeared in, amongst others, Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine, Lighthouse, and Envoi. He has published several poetry collections with Cinnamon Press, including, But It Was an Important Failure and To the Middle of Love, as well as this debut fiction novella, Via Negativa — a parable of exile. His next collection with Cinnamon will be Morning Lit: Portals After Alia will be published in Spring 2022. He has published critical essays on a number of writers, including George Eliot, Lawrence Durrell, and Henry Miller. Omar has a PhD in English Literature from King’s College London and is presently an Assistant Professor in English at the American University in Dubai.

Review :
Omar Sabbagh, English-born of Lebanese parents, is a scholarly and demanding writer whose poetry has already been much admired before this, his first, collection. As the title would suggest, many of the poems relate to his family history and relationships. He has said that this book had to be written before I could move on ... [it is] ... the objectifying of a certain period of tempestuous pain. While there are poems here of great tenderness and affection, there are some very bitter and tormented passages, particularly relating to his mother. At times the private code of imagery is simply too obscure, but the passion communicates. Other, not necessarily separate poems relate to Lebanon. In Postcard from Beirut the sense of dread and hopelessness is everywhere - the brain of the city has a tumour in it and several poems recount his sense of separation and perhaps guilt. But in Vital he has a more positive image for both poet and people, of the palm tree: ...chip if you dare, scratch, tear, crunch but I will still, still with a pinpoint blare, burst my leaves in awry hosanna The title poem concludes the first section, confronting both the grudge and love between him and his father. There then follows a group entitled Hiatus Hayatee, In the Wake of C. being perhaps more universally accessible because its concerned with the vicissitudes of love. He captures vividly both ecstasy and desolation, and the imperative to the end of our days, remember; that impulse which has driven so many poets. In Some Rules of Thumb he draws together many of his themes and tries to sum up how he has endeavoured to live: The point is To tell the story like a story, To give time, our time here, a cadence And a fall to rhythm As if to be mortal were to dance. But I'm all thumbs and jointless knees. The cathartic nature of this book inevitably means that it contains much pain and regret but the quality of Sabbagh's lyrical yet clear-eyed expression makes the reader hope he will move on to create more poetry. Caroline Clark It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council