Mahmoud Darwish was een gerespecteerde Palestijnse dichter wiens werk diep inging op thema's als verlies, ballingschap en het verlangen naar huis. In zijn poëzie werd Palestina een metafoor voor het verlies van Eden, geboorte en de kwelling van onteigening. Darwish verrijkte de moderne Arabische poëzie met nieuwe symboliek, waarbij hij liefde voor zijn vaderland en tederheid voor een geliefde vrouw verweefde. Zijn invloedrijke verzen verkennen de complexiteit van de Palestijnse identiteit en de menselijke ervaring te midden van voortdurende strijd.
Victims of a Map presents fifteen translated poems by each poet. It includes thirteen poems by Darwish never before published in book form, even in Arabic, and a long work by Adonis written during the 1982 siege of Beirut, also published here for the first time.
All Faces but Mine gathers selected poems from the acclaimed Palestinian poet Samih Al-Qasim (1934–2014). A contemporary of Mahmoud Darwish, Al-Qasim was a celebrated resistance poet whose passionate call for independence inspired a generation of poets. In this award-winning volume, poems are drawn from fourteen of the poet’s collections published over the last twenty years in addition to some of his final works. Lu’lu’a’s fluid translation captures both Al-Qasim’s innovative style and the emotional tenor of his poetry.
This autobiography is much more than a life story. Some people in politics, public service or in the world of arts may write their autobiography for personal purposes, so to speak. Some may think that their knowledge of characters in society, politics or business may recast an aura of importance on their own career or position in life. But this autobiography by Sam , Al-Q sim is more of a panorama about the life of the intellectual, living almost like a prisoner in his own homeland, under the occupation of a foreign power, which has, for decades, affected his life, and the life of the average Palestinian, in a manner that has usurped the basic aspects of liberty and dignified life.