From Notes Section
"Sand Opera began out of the vertigo of feeling unheard as an Arab American, in the decade after the terrorist attacks of 2001. After 9/11, Americans turned an ear to the voices of Arabs and Muslims, though often it has been a fearful or selelctive listening...I find myself split between my American upbringing and my Arab roots"

Sand Opera emerges from the dizzying position of being named but unheard as an Arab American and out of the parallel sense of seeing Arabs named and silenced since 9/11. Polyvocal poems, arias, and redacted text speak for the unheard. Philip Metres exposes our common humanity while investigating the dehumanizing perils of war and its lasting effect on our culture."

From back cover
"Philip Metres has written a number of books and chapbooks, most reccently A Concordance of Leaves, abu ghrab arias, To See the Earth and Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry on the American Homefront since 1941. His work has appeared widely, including in Best American Poetry, and has garnered two NEA fellowships, the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, five Ohio Arts Council Grants, the Anne Halley Prize, the Arab American Book Award, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. He teaches at John Caroll University in Cleveland Ohio.