Let Us (or the Invocation of Smoke) by Shehzar Doja
Let us (or the invocation of smoke) by Shehzar Doja is a mysterious and ethereal pamphlet. The words patter inexplicably onto the page like a tiger dreaming of snow. Through these meditative poems Doja shows a deep engagement with craft, realizing “in that primordial amniotic /we never were / when we were.” His masterful wordplay curls like smoke rising from an extinguished candle.
ABOUT the author:
Shehzar Doja is Founder/Editor-in-Chief of The Luxembourg Review and Poetry Reviews Editor at Gutter. His poetry and translations have appeared in New Welsh Review, Pratik, Modern Poetry in Translation, Voice and Verses, Ceremony, Poems from the Edge of Extinction, Gutter, The Centenary Collection for Edwin Morgan, Fundstücke-Trouvailles and more. His poetry collection -Drift- was published by UPL/Monsoon Letters in 2016 and he recently co-edited I am a Rohingya: Poetry from the Camps and Beyond (Arc, 2019)with James Byrne which was the recipient of Poetry Book Society’s inaugural ‘World Choice’ award. In 2021, Shehzar's poem marked the start of Cop 26 in Scotland which was also the catalyst for the first 'Poetry in Parliament' event at Holyrood in 2022 alongside being invited to read at Cop27. He was named a 'Youth Icon' in Bangladesh in 2017 by the Newage Newspaper and a 'Future World Changer' by the University of Glasgow in 2019.
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