It might be the oldest work of literature to ask the big questions. How can we live by justice when the world has so much injustice? How can we counsel a friend to whom life has been unfair?
But the really big question is, “Why has nobody bothered to translate an ancient acrostic poem into an English acrostic poem?”
I’ve discussed the history of acrostic poems before, and the history of the Babylonian Theodicy more specifically. Now I’m contributing to it with this new pair of acrostic translations, one graphic and one syllabic, available for purchase in e-book and paperback format! These creative translation formats are a supplement to scholarship for a more general audience, bridging the gap of thousands of years to bring the Theodicy’s relatable dilemmas into the present day. And to English-speaking wordplay-lovers, they’re examples of forms unique in the language!
(Thanks to Jason Waltrip for the cover.) Get the collection here (online) or here (in print)!