Mirrors of Absence taps into three under-examined subjects: issues concerning how the poet survives under tyrannical regimes; how the notion of "imprisonment" affects identity; and the concept of freedom that is so essential to every human being. - John Mikhail Asfour

Faraj Bayrakdar is a Syrian writer, author of five books of poetry and one of prose. Imprisoned by the Syrian authorities in 1987, he was only set free 14 years later. He has lived in Sweden since 2005. Born in Lebanon, John Mikhail Asfour was the author of five volumes of poetry in English and editor and translator of the landmark anthology, When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry. Asfour died on November 2, 2014.