Blackbird, Bye Bye

Moniza Alvi''s new book is unified by birds. Her creations ''Motherbird'' and ''Fatherbird'' are inspired by her parents, and by the loss of her father and by his emigration from Pakistan. Among the many bird-related poems are versions of the French poets Jules Supervielle and Saint-John Perse, and poems ''after'' the paintings of the Spanish-Mexican surrealist artist Remedios Varo. Blackbird, Bye...