Skip to content
          Brick BooksBrick Books
              • 0
              • Home
              • Books
                • All Books
                • Brick Books Annual Subscription
                • 2024 Poetry Collection
                • Bundles
                • New Books
                • Forthcoming
                • Classics
                • Award Winners
                • Queer at Heart Collection
                • Asian Voices
                • Black Voices
                • Indigenous Voices
                • Feeling Philosophical Collection
                • Domanski’s Dreams Collection
                • Hidden Gems Collection
                • Fighting the Good Fight Collection
                • New to Poetry Collection
                • Earthly Entanglements Collection
                • My Heart is Heavy Collection
                • Resisting the Patriarchy Collection
                • Voices Without Borders Collection
                • Breaking the Rules Collection
              • About
                • About Brick Books
                • Solidarity Statement
                • For Educators
                • Distribution
                • Poetry Consultation Service
                • Quizzes & Guides
                • Submissions
                • Shipping
                • Returns
                • Out of Stock TItles
                • Privacy Policy
                • Terms and Conditions
                • Brick Rewards Program
              • Authors
              • Blog
              • Events
              • Brickyard
                • Intersectional Poetica
                • Mental Health Showcase
                • Black History Month Showcase
                • Asian Heritage Month Showcase
                • National Indigenous History Month Showcase
                • Brickyard Spoken Word for Educators
              • Contact Us
              • Cart / $0.00 0
                Cart

                No products in the cart.

                Return to shop

              Home / Shop / Authors / Irfan Ali
              Accretion by Irfan Ali

              Accretion by Irfan Ali

              $20.00

              Finalist 2021 Trillium Award for Poetry

              An extraordinary debut set in Toronto, unfurling against the backdrop of an ancient Persian love story.

              8.75 x 6 Inches | 144 Pages
              Publication Date: April 1, 2020
              Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781771315180

              Trade Paperback

              $20

              SKU: accretion Categories: Irfan Ali, Poetry, Poetry on the Immigration Experience, Voices Without Borders
              Search Books
              By Category
              • Domanski's Dreams
              • Feeling Philosophical
              • Breaking the Rules
              • Hidden Gems
              • Voices Without Borders
              • Bundles
              • Resisting the Patriarchy
              • My Heart is Heavy
              • Earthly Entanglements
              • New to Poetry
              • Fighting the Good Fight
              • Queer at Heart
              • Subscription
              • Poetry
              • Forthcoming
              • New Books
              • 2SLGBTQIA+
              • Asian Studies
              • Award Winners
              • Black Studies
              • Classics
              • Cross-Genre
              • Environmental Poetry
              • Gender Studies
              • Grief Studies
              • Holocaust Studies
              • Indigenous Poetry
              • Poetry on the Immigration Experience
              • Poetry Relevant to Disability Studies
              • Speculative Studies
              • Women's Studies / Feminist
              • Authors
              • Other
              • Description

              The story of Layla and Majnun, made immortal by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi in the 12th century, has been retold thousands of times, in thousands of different ways, throughout literature. Against the backdrop of this story, to the soundtrack of modern hip-hop, and amid the struggle of an immigrant family to instill an old faith under new conditions, Irfan Ali’s Accretion hurtles toward an unsustainable, “greater madness.” Majnun, one of the foundational literary characters who haunt Accretion, is also an Arabic epithet for “possessed.” In this tradition, Ali has written a book from the places where the self is no longer the self; places where, in order not to shut down forever, the debris must be cleared, and the soul must inch toward love and hope, “on memory’s dusty beams.”

              Accretion is written in a contemporary lyricism that honours ancient poetic traditions. It is a familiar story, imbued with a particularity and honesty that only Irfan Ali could bring to the table.

              Praise for Accretion:

              “Accretion, Irfan Ali’s triumph of a debut, masterfully unravels the third culture experience with deceiving simplicity, humour, grace and candour. Standing at the threshold of what it means to be a son, a South Asian man, a Muslim, and a human, Ali resists the temptation of binaries—faith is not linear, identity is not fixed, and culture is not singular. Ali’s genius lies in his effortless ability to hold space for what is unsaid and unknown. Like Majnun from the famous Sufi fable, Ali sets out on a journey only to discover that his Beloved is the mirror within him.” — Jury Citation, 2021 Trillium Book Award for Poetry 

              “Irfan Ali delves fearlessly into the beauty and cruelty of a utilitarian city and the chasms between people. The struggle between head and heart binds these poems. In fact, Accretion might be considered a roadmap for finding love in everything—ourselves, family, soul mates, urban life, and faith.” — Emily Pohl-Weary, author of Ghost Sick

              Press Coverage:

              Accretion by Irfan Ali — Quill and Quire

              29 works of Canadian poetry to watch for in spring 2020 — CBC 

              Most Anticipated: Spring 2020 Poetry Preview — 49th Shelf

               


              About the Author

              Irfan Ali is a poet, essayist, writer, and educator. His short poetry collection, Who I Think About When I Think About You was shortlisted for the 2015 Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Accretion is his first full-length work. Irfan was born, raised, and still lives in Toronto.


              Related Titles

              Abraham by Colin Browne

              Abraham by Colin Browne

              $12.00
              The Martha Landscapes by Colleen Thibaudeau

              The Martha Landscapes by Colleen Thibaudeau

              $12.00
              House Within a House by Nicholas Dawson (translated by D.M. Bradford)

              House Within a House by Nicholas Dawson (translated by D.M. Bradford)

              $13.99 – $22.95Price range: $13.99 through $22.95
              The King of Bean by Brent MacKay

              The King of Bean by Brent MacKay

              $12.00
              Mailing Address

              Brick Books
              487 King St. W.
              Kingston, Ontario K7L 2X7
              Canada
              613-701-1743

              Main Menu
              • Home
              • Books
              • Authors
              • About
              • Contact Us
              • Poetry Consultation Service
              • Quizzes and Guides
              • Submissions
              Fine Print
              • Shipping
              • Returns
              • Privacy Policy
              • Terms and Conditions
              Email Signup

              Though much of the work of Brick Books takes place on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and Mississaugas of the Credit peoples, our editors, authors, and readers from many backgrounds are situated from coast to coast to coast in Canada on the traditional and unceded territories of over six hundred nations who have cared for Turtle Island from time immemorial. While living and working on these lands, we are committed to hearing and returning the rightful imaginative space to the poetries, songs, and stories that have been untold, under-told, wrongly told, and suppressed through colonization.

              Copyright 2025 © Brick Books

              Powered by SchmidtDigital.ca
              • Home
              • Books
                • All Books
                • Brick Books Annual Subscription
                • 2024 Poetry Collection
                • Bundles
                • New Books
                • Forthcoming
                • Classics
                • Award Winners
                • Queer at Heart Collection
                • Asian Voices
                • Black Voices
                • Indigenous Voices
                • Feeling Philosophical Collection
                • Domanski’s Dreams Collection
                • Hidden Gems Collection
                • Fighting the Good Fight Collection
                • New to Poetry Collection
                • Earthly Entanglements Collection
                • My Heart is Heavy Collection
                • Resisting the Patriarchy Collection
                • Voices Without Borders Collection
                • Breaking the Rules Collection
              • About
                • About Brick Books
                • Solidarity Statement
                • For Educators
                • Distribution
                • Poetry Consultation Service
                • Quizzes & Guides
                • Submissions
                • Shipping
                • Returns
                • Out of Stock TItles
                • Privacy Policy
                • Terms and Conditions
                • Brick Rewards Program
              • Authors
              • Blog
              • Events
              • Brickyard
                • Intersectional Poetica
                • Mental Health Showcase
                • Black History Month Showcase
                • Asian Heritage Month Showcase
                • National Indigenous History Month Showcase
                • Brickyard Spoken Word for Educators
              • Contact Us
              • Login
              • Newsletter

              Login

              Lost your password?

              Register

              Your personal data will be used to support your experience throughout this website, to manage access to your account, and for other purposes described in our privacy policy.