Back cover text:

A Rug of a Thousand Colours is an exploratory project between a Palestinian poet who is now a resident in Scotland and an established Scottish poet. The poems explore Tessa and Iyad’s personal responses to the Five Pillars of Islam. Although from different backgrounds the two poets form a dialogue which is interwoven throughout the poems and creates a vivid tapestry of ideas surrounding the Five Pillars of Islam. Each poet translates the other’s work so that each poem is presented in English and in Arabic.

Reviews:

Tessa Ransford has been a distinctive voice in Scottish poetry for nearly four decades. By refusing to conform to literary fashion or gendered preconceptions, she has enriched the poetic ecology. DONALD SMITH Ransford is an eclectic and committed poet; eclectic in her willingness to absorb whatever tradition of thought or craft fits her immediate purpose and committed to what have seemed to her inescapable spiritual and aesthetic truths.  Scottish Review of Books

Iyad Hayatleh and Tessa Ransford create a vivid tapestry of dialog exploring their different cultural backgrounds and views regarding religion, tradition and society. This is a powerful explanatory project between a Syrian/Palestinian poet who is now a resident in Scotland and an established Scottish poet, signifying a unity of imagination, experience and perception.  Scottish Review of Books