Mem u Zin

I found a very nicely printed edition of the great mediaeval Kurdish epic tragedy, Mem u Zin, by Ahmed Khane, based on a folk tale. Mem and Zin are the characters, and it's a sort of R&J story, with both protagonists dying early; the villain is buried between them and grows up into a thorn bush which will forever (?) keep Kurdistan and the Kurds apart. It's 246 pages long in couplets and reads like a modernised, Sufist, Spenser to me - there's a lot about gardens.

They were perplexed by that moon
Why did she moan so much?

They thought that Zin
Was only crying for Siti

When they saw that words were mere air
They shut their mouths and left in despair

I'm not totally convinced by this translation by Salah Saadallal. Meanwhile there is at least a part-translation by Dr Kamal Mirawdeli, who has written a large study of the poem, which is currently being serialised online by the Kurdish Tribune. And a pair of residential towers are being built in Erbil which will be known as Mem and Zin.

I also found a cheap volume of essays on Kurdish art including such topics as The History of Photography in Kurdistan and Kurdish Literature in the Former Soviet Republic of Armenia.