Sher

By Frishta Bastan

Frishta "Fresh" Bastan is a Spoken Word artist, activist, and avid coffee drinker. She started writing poetry to help navigate her hyphenated, layered identity including engaging in dialogues surrounding social justices issues at home and abroad. Fresh has performed for over 7 years in front of diverse audiences and facilitates poetry workshops called "Poetic Resistance." Her workshops encourage attendees to express themselves and heal safely in poetic form. In this collection, Frishta explores life through relationships and her layered identities giving readers a unique perspective of a world through her eyes. The title of the collection was meant to play on two words: poem and lion. SHER (noun) / pron. Shayr (IPA)1. Lion, Afghanistan is often referred to as the "Land of the Lions." A reflection of her Afghan heritage.2. Poetry, translated from Farsi. Each poem written, exists on its own.Note: In Standard Afghan Persian, the words for "lion" and "poem" are pronounced the same in colloquial speech despite being spelled differently. In formal speech, the word for "poem" (sh'er) is disyllabic, however it becomes monosyllabic in everyday speech and thus indistinguishable from the word for lion (sher).Frishta has worked on her collection for the past two years with her illustrator and designer Maha Ali. The book is filled with hand-painted watercolour illustrations to accompany the poems. She hopes readers will be able to engage and connect with the poetry and artwork in hopes to bring healing and ease to their hearts. In the spirit of community building, Frishta has decided that all author proceeds of "Sher" will go to a women's shelter in the GTA. Keep up with her rhymes:Instagram: @freshpoetryFacebook: @freshpoetry

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1095715224
• ISBN13: 9781095715222
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.3" x 5.5"