Ajsa Zahirovic
Ajsa (Pen name: Džemila) Zahirovic, lawyer by profession, was born on the first day of spring at Vratnik, in the very heart of the old city core of Sarajevo. Originates from the Haćam family, her mother Džemila and her fathre Ago coming from the families Kurbegovic and Aganovic. Her father Ago got a new family name after her great-grandfather, sheikh Mula Zahir Aganovic, and thus left her that name. For a number of years she has been engaged in the research of the poetry of women poets.
She wrote and published 16 poetry books (in Bosnian, Italian, Hindu, Kannada, English, Arabic, Urdu, Telugu languages, some of them bilingual).
She was editor of 10 anthologies in Bosnia, English, Greek, Castilian languages, some of them were bilingual Bosnia-English, English-Castilian etc.
Her work is included in great number of world anthologies of poetry in different languages.
Her poems have been translated into: Italian, Turkish, Arabic, German, Greek, Spanish, Malaysian, English, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Maltese, Hindu, Urdu, Punjabi, Kannad (India), Oriya, Marathi, Gujrati (India), Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kashmiri, French, Castilian, Chinese, Slovenian, Albanian, Rumanian, Portuguese, etc.
Her Poems have been set to music (cassettes and LP’s “I call you by name Bosnia”). There was artistic film made on Ajsa Zahirovic’s biography “The Echo of Ajsa’s Voice” (1992) Sarajevo, TV Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian and English language.
MEDITATION
Once, when nights start smiling
when the dark wakes up
when the faces of the turn pale
toil and dreading and yield and fruit
will be catching up with each others on the road
in the early dawn
they will comb their exhaustion
through the troubles and white waters
(Changbai Tianchi-Heavently Lake, China)
TO THE EARTH
At the time you appeared
fire appeared too
At the time the fire appeared
soul appeared too
At the time soul appeared
rainbow appeared too
At the time the rainbow appeared
Love appeared too
At the time love appeared
Death also appeared
(Buchara, Uzbekistan, 1981)
I AM NOT LONELY
I am not lonely
one window is ablaze
love cannot calm down
in the distance
A drama is being written
a poet is avoiding sleep
until late
very late into the night
(Skopje Macedonia, 1983)
AT BAŠČARŠIJA
and
A YOURNEY TO THAILAND
Here I am to look
for my home where
I was born centuries back
and find out the names of
my mother and father
... and my love
in my previous birth
Here I am to take
your initials on my
ash-like forehead
and seek celestial signs
to help me to clean my soul
in the temple of your love
with the white flakes
of deep silence
Here I am to untie
the knots of my time
and fill the holes in me
with the petals of flowers
to give them as a gift to
those whom walk over the cobble stones
(Sarajevo-Bangkok, November, 1988)
AWARD: Adult Poetry W.B.Yeats Award.
In San Mateo, Calif.U.S.A.,1990
TO THE EARTH
I am afraid of your beauty
it makes me restless
Do not give all the gifts on this day
When I am in the sod
embrace me with your warmth
and I will in return
make you fruitful once again
(Washington, U.S.A., 1974.)
BEFORE US, AROUND US
Before us, around us
still burn wild fires
Grasses have gone white
Waters have lost their luster
The hungry eyes of the black and the yellow
observe the river of milk
and warm pillows
Together with the rains there flow away
their prayers to us
Behind us around us
too strong fires burn
You flower-lovers, you romantic souls
keep up the sky so that it does not fall
over the emptiness to big!
(In the World, before many years, until now)
Name: Dr Ajsa Zahirovic
Phone: +387 33 667 578
Address: Str Kranjceviceva 41,
71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
ajsazahirovic@yahoo.com
AWARDS
Hon. member New Zealand PEN 1994; Hon. LittD (World Acad. of Arts and Culture) 1988; Int. Eminent Poet, Int. Poets' Acad., Madras, Robert Frost Award, Adult Literary Arts, San Mateo, USA 1990, World Award Gold Crown, World Poetry Research Institute 1990, Silver Crown, Accademia Internazionale di Pontzen, Italy 1991, Int. Prize for Poetry, Int. Soc. of Greek Writers 1994, Radio Corridor Golden Plate of Humanity, Sarajevo 1996, Poetry Day Australia Golden Medallion Dove in Peace 1996, Int. Poets' Acad. Poet of the Millennium, India –2000, World Acad. of Arts and Culture XX World Congress of Poets Prize, Thessaloniki, Greece 2000, World Award Mikis Theodorakis, Greece 2004, World Award Int. Asscn of Greek Writers and Int. Acad. of Literature and Arts Athens Goddess 2004, Int. Peace Prize 2005, United Cultural Convention 2005, Int. Poets Acad. Lifetime Achievement Award, Madras, India, ABI Gold Medal for Bosnia and Herzegovina, USA, XXIX World Congress of Poets Medal and Plaque, Budapest 2009, All India Intellectual Peace Acad. Int. Peace Award 2010, International Intellectual Peace Academy National President Award for Bosnia and Herzegovina, India 2013, and other awards.
