Nora Nadjarian




SHOWCASE @laurahird.com

To read a selection of Nora's prose on the Showcase, click here


 

Nora Nadjarian is a Cypriot poet and short story writer. She has published three collections of poetry: �The Voice at the Top of the Stairs� (2001), �Cleft in Twain� (2003) and �25 Ways to Kiss a Man� (2004). Nora�s work has been commended in various international competitions, including the Scottish International Open Poetry Competition, the Envoi International Poetry Competition and the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Her book �Cleft in Twain� was one of the books from Cyprus recommended in an article in The Guardian on the literature of the new member states of the European Union. Her work has been published in various Cypriot literary magazines and British small press publications, including Seam, Poetry Nottingham International, Tears in the Fence, Staple, Envoi, Orbis and The Haiku Quarterly. To read more about Nora, click here

NORA LOVES:

YEHUDA AMICHAI

Click image for the Yehuda Amichai tribute page; for a profile of Amichai on the Jewish Virtual Library site, click here or to order the book on Amazon, click here.
OSIP MANDELSTAM

Click image for a biography and bibliography of Mandelstam on the Kirjasto website; to read Mandelstam's poem, 'The Stalin Epigram' on the Poets.org website, click here or to order the book on Amazon, click here.
PAUL ELUARD

Click image for a biography and selected works in translation on the Kalin website; for a profile of Eluard on the Kirjasto website, click here or to order the book on Amazon, click here.
SYLVIA PLATH

Click image to visit the Sylvia Plath Forum website; for the Plath Online website, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here
CAROL ANN DUFFY

Click image for a biography, bibliography and critical perspectives of Duffy on the British Council's Contemporary Writers site; for a selection of online poems by Carol Ann Duffy, click here or for related items on Amazon, click here.
CONSTANTINOS KAVAFIS

Click image for selected poetry and links relating to Kavafis on the Mlahanas website; to read Kavafis's poem 'Ithaca' on Theophanis C. Stratopoulos's website, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here
MARC CHAGALL

Click image for short biography and links to over 1000 Chagall images on the web in the Artchive; to read about the recent Chagall exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, click here; for a selection of images by Chagall on the New York Museums website, click hereor for books relating to Chagall on Amazon, click here.
RENE MAGRITTEClick image to visit The Magritte Site; to read about the SFMOMA's 2000 Magritte exhibition, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here
ARSHILE GORKY

Click image for a profile of Gorky on the Nancy Doyle Fine Art website; to read about 'Black Angel,' Nouritza Matossian's biography of Gorky, click here of for related items on Amazon, click here.

NORA'S FAVOURITE NOVEL:

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier

Click image to visit Tracy Chevalier's official website; for the BBC Blast profile of Chevalier, click here or to order the book on Amazon, click here.



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SELECTED POETRY

by
Nora Nadjarian






UNDERWATER


when we meet underwater
by the soft blue mussel beds

when my hair dances slow motion
its unruly tentacles round your face

when my lips like excited little fish
swim circles around your mouth

don�t whisper bubbles that life is running out
or break your wetsuit squeezed lungs away

don�t rush up to the surface of cowards
just watch me gasp for oxygen


� Nora Nadjarian




MAN CHILD


I will bathe you
with the warmest blood
of my womb

I will suckle you
with every drop of love
under my skin

I will cradle you
with lullabies of screams
until you sleep

I will kiss you
into life make you re-enter
my flesh as a foetus

I will keep you
clothe you with my body
never give birth to you again

� Nora Nadjarian





WAITING FOR MONSOON


the sky makes promises to my body
prolongs its frenzy with swollen clouds

my skin touches the air
feels for the coming moisture
my nails tear arid earth for floods
my mouth prepares to drink
the heaviest drops licks its lips

a peacock with shiny eyes
smooth feathers starts to dance
its tail shimmering with sequins of lust

� Nora Nadjarian





THESE DOORS


these doors which open into an ocean of tears
these walls painted with the colour of water
these keys rusting with salt and silence


� Nora Nadjarian



TO THE READER


Of course you have seen me hiding
behind some of these words I write.
You have heard a roar in the spaces
between words and in lines between stanzas
and wondered who I am, have been,
who I want to be. I do not tell you everything,
but enough.

Look at these letters and guess the colour
of my hair and eyes, the sound of my voice,
the size of my feet pacing barefoot up and down
in a corner with the tiger.

Come and help me escape.


� Nora Nadjarian







NORA IS MOST IRRITATED BY:


long queues

***

pretentious fools

***

poor translations

***

hyperactive kids

***

endless questions

***

tasteless food

***

bad kissers

***

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