My Father's Notebook

Acknowledgments

The poems by J. C. Bloem and P. N. van Eyck have been translated for this edition by David McKay. The poet Jan Slauerhoff based his poem on the classic Chinese poem “Golden Bells” by Po Chu I. The Multatuli passage has been taken from Multatuli, Max Havelaar, translated by Roy Edwards, London: Penguin Books, 1987. The poem by Rutger Kopland, part of a series entitled “Suppose”, has been taken from Rutger Kopland, A World Beyond Myself, translated by James Brockway, London: Enitharmon Press: 1991.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The passages from the Koran and Shiite prayer books are not reproductions of the actual Arabic texts but have been adapted by the author. They should, therefore, be regarded as retellings, or as snatches of texts remembered by the characters, rather than as direct quotations.

I wish to thank Diane Webb for her editorial advice and R. M. McGlinn for his assistance with the translation and transliteration of Farsi into English.