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The poems here were written during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most were circulated through What's App voice notes, an intimate way of keeping distance while reaching out to touch. The poems speak to experiences and occurrences during the first wave in different parts of the world and the pressing need to make love as global and infectious as the novel corona virus. This collection is a prelude to "29 leads to love", a collection that explores more fully the grand notion of love which began coming to the fore in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has largely re-submerged.
About the author
Salimah Valiani is a poet, activist and researcher. She is author of 29 leads to love, the 2022 Winner of The International Book Award for Contemporary Poetry. She has also published four other poetry collections: breathing for breadth (TSAR 2005); Letter Out: Letter In (Inanna 2009); land of the sky (Inanna 2016); Cradles (Daraja 2017).
Valiani was born of a mother from Uganda and father from Tanzania, in Calgary (Canada), or what was first known as Mohksinstis by the Blackfoot First Nation. Like her parents, Valiani left home young, beginning a journey which has included extended stops in Montreal, London (UK), New York City, Binghamton (USA), Toronto, Cape Town, Ottawa, and Johannesburg.
