archipelago: The Playlist
Today’s book playlist was made by Laila Malik to complement her debut poetry collection, archipelago.
The poems in archipelago intertwine histories of exile and ecological devastation. Beginning with a coming of age in the 80s and 90s between Canada, the Arabian Gulf, East Africa and Kashmir, they subvert conventions of lineage, instead drawing on the truths of inter-ethnic histories amidst sparse landscapes of deserts, oceans, and mountains. They question why the only certainties of “home” are urgency and impossibility.
There are songs to go with each section of the collection, as it moves chronologically through time and across moods.
Find the official playlist below, or listen on Spotify. We hope you enjoy! archipelago comes out this Thursday, April 6, and is available from our online shop or your favourite independent bookstore!
Prologue
Aaqa by Abida Parveen & Ali Sethi
I
Duwari, Ashari by Men’s Choir from Dar Jnah
Human Nature by Michael Jackson
Tarshalh by Queen GII
Pictures of You by The Cure
Straight Lines by Suzanne Vega
Camels by Shri (Drum the Bass)
Ain’t no sunshine by Jean Mouawad
Inhi logon ne by Pakeeza soundtrackIII
Butterfly by DJ Talvin Singh
Astronaut by City and Colour
Treed Trooh by Moneka Arabic Jazz
It’s a Fire by Portishead
Miss Celie’s Blues by Quincy JonesIV
Space by Narcy & Yasmine Hamdan
True Love Waits – Live in Oslo by Radiohead
Formidable by Stromae
Wenti Masteneti by Alaa Wardi
Night Vision by Suzanne Vega
Mohabbat by Arooj Aftab
Tu Jhoom by Abida Parvin and Naseebo Lal
Wactenamaci (Illumine-moi) by Laura Niquay
Arnalukaq by The Jerry Cans
Laila Malik is a desisporic settler and writer living in Adobigok, traditional land of Indigenous communities that include the Anishinaabe, Seneca, Mohawk Haudenosaunee, and Wendat. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines and journals, including Contemporary Verse 2, Canthius, The New Quarterly, Ricepaper, Qwerty, Room, Sukoon, The Bangalore Review, and Archetype. Malik’s essays have been longlisted for four different creative nonfiction contests and she was a fellow at the Banff Centre for Creative Arts in 2021 for her novel in progress. archipelago is her debut poetry collection.
