Overview

When Language Left Me details Farzana Marie's sudden and heartbreaking loss of language as the result of a brain injury (a massive stroke) she suffered in Afghanistan in 2015. But much more than that, this deeply engaging and wildly honest collection of poems-all written AFTER her stroke, WITH aphasia-is ultimately a triumph of the human spirit, as Farzana fights her way from a coma in the Middle East, to a hospital bed in Phoenix, Arizona, to effortful recovery efforts in Tucson, and, ultimately, to a rich and full life in New Mexico with her husband and young daughter. At times facing the pain and struggle head on, and at other times allowing herself to laugh and revel in unexpected joys, what remains constant is Farzana's indomitable will to forge a path of beauty and purpose-and to invite others to join her in that journey!

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Reviews

""Before a massive stroke silenced her in 2015, the poet and translator Farzana Marie spoke six languages. After a decade of arduous rehabilitation, she now speaks a seventh: the tongue of remarkable courage."" -Paulann Petersen, Oregon Poet Laureate Emerita ""...a book rich in grief and laughter, poems from the tongue's recovery in the aftermath of stroke. ... Reading these pages, you will see each word pulled heroically from silence, thought uttered past paralysis, insight pried forth to sing."" -Kim Stafford, author of As the Sky Begins to Change ""This fierce and moving collection chronicles the decade since [Farzana Marie's stroke] and the sentence-by-sentence struggle to build from blank and misshapen thoughts."" -Lauren Camp, New Mexico Poet Laureate Emerita ""Word by word, poem by poem, this powerful volume charts [Farzana Marie's] way forward, as she crafts a lyrical path of courage, transformation, hope, and resilience."" -Juhi Bansal, award-winning Composer, Conductor, and Teacher ""For those unfamiliar with aphasia, [Farzana Marie's poetry] gives a rare and powerful glimpse into what it is like to lose language."" -Fabi Hirsch Kruse, PhD, CCC-SLP, Co-Founder: Friends of Aphasia ""After a stroke in Afghanistan nearly erased her-and her treasured languages-Farzana Marie writes herself back-word by word-with humor, wonder, and a relentless spirit that turns loss into beauty, meaning, and, ultimately, transcendence."" -Nassim Assefi, MD, Novelist, Creative Curator, Civic Activist ""These poems bring the poet and the reader together, on our shared plain of humanity, to each examine and explore our identity, our fragility, our power, and the possibilities to be found within ourselves."" -PW Covington, New Mexico Beat Poet Laureate

Author Information

Farzana Marie is a poet and a stroke survivor. Her brain injury has left her with a disability: aphasia (loss of language, not intellect). But she refuses to let aphasia define her. Her new collection of poetry, When Language Left Me, is comprised of poems all written AFTER her stroke-poems she fought hard to create, wrestling with her brain to get each word out. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Farzana completed three consecutive deployments in Afghanistan before leaving the military in 2012. In 2019-with aphasia-she successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on Persian Literature. For the past several years, she has been working on her memoir and creating plans for the immersive, multi-sensory The Soul of Language Museum. Gabby Giffords is a former United States Congresswoman from Arizona. Prior to holding that office, she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate. In 2011, Ms. Giffords was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tucson. Shortly thereafter, in 2012, she retired from Congress to focus on recovery from her injuries, injuries which left her with aphasia. She is married to the retired astronaut Mark Kelly, and today she leads a gun violence prevention organization.

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