Ibrahim Muhawi’s translation of Journal of an Ordinary Grief (Ar: 1973, Eng: 2010) is dedicated to the people of Gaza. This is from the section “Silence for the Sake of Gaza”:
Mahmoud Darwish 
New French-Lebanese Literary Prize & Other Things You Missed While I Was Away
Lebanon’s French book fair — the 19th Salon du Livre Francophone de Beyrouth — will be held from Oct. 26 through Nov. 4 of this year, separate (as is unfortunately been the case) from the capitol’s Arabic book fair. However,… Read More ›
Mahmoud Darwish in English: A Conversation with Translator Ziad Suidan
Ziad Suidan, PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is translating eighteen poems by Mahmoud Darwish as part of his dissertation. Sofia Samatar, a doctoral student in UW’s Department of African Languages and Literature, talked to him about the project.
One-minute Review: Mahmoud Darwish’s /Journal of an Ordinary Grief/
In Mahmoud Darwish’s Journal of an Ordinary Grief–published in 1973 as Yawmiyyat al-Huzn al-’Adi and now available in English translation–the narrator shapes his personal, Palestinian memories against the insistent push of Israeli and Western-dominated history. The book thus presents itself not as an official record, but as a collection of individual wounds.
Marilyn Hacker: ‘I might wish, like any citizen to celebrate my country’
Yesterday, Anis Shivani had a long interview in The Huffington Post with poet and translator Marilyn Hacker. For those unfamiliar with Hacker’s work, she has won both the United States’ National Book Award (for her Presentation Piece) and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation (Marie Etienne’s King of a Hundred Horsemen).
Fady Joudah Wins 2010 PEN USA Literary Award
Palestinian-American poet Fady Joudah (who I thought should’ve made the Beirut39, but never mind) has won this year’s 2010 PEN USA Literary Award for translation for his rendition of Mahmoud Darwish’s If I Were Another. مبروك, ya Fady! Joudah was… Read More ›
When (Arab) Poets Write Prose
Baheyya begins her review of Mourid Bargouti’s 2009 memoir I Was Born There, I Was Born Here by stating: “It’s a wonderful thing when poets write prose.” This is certainly true of Bargouti. His first memoir, I Saw Ramallah, which… Read More ›
August 9, 2010: Two-year Anniversary of Darwish’s Death
Today marks the second anniversary of poet Mahmoud Darwish’s death.
Forthcoming Arabic Lit in 2010: The Non-AUC Presses
There are three big books I’m looking forward to in 2010: Sonallah Ibrahim’s Stealth* (out from Aflame in February), Elias Khoury’s White Masks, (out from from Archipelago in April), and Youssef Ziedan’s Azazeel (out from Atlantic Books in March or… Read More ›
‘Egypt’ to translate Mahmoud Darwish?
I came across this somewhat strange headline in Bikya Masr. Certainly, five or ten years ago I would have cheered it—oorah, more Darwish in English! But, these days, poet-translator Fady Joudah is bringing out beautiful Darwish translations. And, as of… Read More ›
