In Divide and Rule, Walid Bitar delivers a sequence of dramatic monologues, variations on the theme of power, each in rhymed quatrains. Though the pieces grow out of Bitar’s personal experiences over the last decade, both in North America and the Middle East, he is not primarily a confessional writer. His work might be called cubist, the perspectives constantly shifting, point followed by counterpoint, subtle phrase by savage outburst. Bitar’s enigmatic speakers are partially rational creatures, have some need to explain, and may succeed in partially explaining, but, in the end, communication and subterfuge are inseparable – must, so to speak, co-exist.

Walid Bitar has previously published three other books of poetry: Maps with Moving Parts (Brick Books), Guys on Holy Land (Wesleyan University Press/University Press of New England), and Bastardi Puri (The Porcupine `s Quill). He has also been published in four anthologies, including The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry (Signal Editions/VÈhicule Press) and in journals across Canada and the United States. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and lives in Toronto.

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