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6 Poems to Celebrate Batool Abu Akleen, MPT’s 2024 Poet in Residence

This week, award-winning Gaza-based Palestinian poet and artist Batool Abu Akleen was named the 2024 Modern Poetry in Translation (MPT) poet-in-residence.

MPT editor Ed Cottrell explained that the residencies “are essentially a platform for a poet or translator to explore and share their writing, or their specific translation interests – which can include workshops, essays, poetry, recordings, and so on. The writer is given a stipend, and a very free hand to choose what they would like to focus on, and how they would like to approach it.”

The residencies are remote.

Cottrell added that they expect her residency “will include essays as well as some translation of other Palestinian poets, which we will publish as a standalone digital pamphlet on our website.”

Past writers-in-residence include Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng (2023), DL Williams (2022), and Sam Riviere and Cătălina Stanislav (2021).

Batool Abu Akleen won her first major poetry prize at age 15, she was awarded a Barjeel Prize for her poem, “‘I didn’t steal the cloud.” Her work is featured in the anthology Of Water and Time, in the “Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!” issue of ArabLit Quarterly, and in other venues.

MPT writes that she is currently working toward an English literature degree at the Islamic University of Gaza and aspires to become a literary translator. They add: “Despite the challenging conditions in Gaza, where she continues to witness the ongoing genocide, Akleen remains committed to her work as a teacher, writer, and translator. Her dedication to her craft and her resilience in the face of adversity sustain her efforts to spread her voice and support emerging writers.”

Six poems by Batool Abu Akleen:

“Blazing Sun” and “Milad Birth,” co-translated by Batool Abu Akleen and Cristina Viti (Modern Poetry in Translation)

“I’m burning my fingers / they’re melting one after the other”

“Untitled,” translated by the ArabLit collective (ArabLit):

“I want a grave with a marble headstone / that my loved ones will water / where they will place flowers, /weeping when the longing lacerates their eyes.”

“How I Cook My Grief,” translated by Yasmin Zaher (Triangle House):

“I pick fresh hearts from the street / The most defeated ones / With nimble fingers, I steal the tears”

“The land of weary crows” (We Are Not Numbers):

“Take me to the sky on your kite / And let me fly far away from this life / Show me how death is just a matter of time.”

“I did not steal the cloud” (Rusted Radishes, winner of the Barjeel Poetry Prize)

أجوب أزقة المخيم / صدى كلماتي لا يتسع سوى لقلبي المهترئ / أظهر جبروتي / أنا موج أبتلع كل ما أحاط بي / صفير يدوّي في المكان / ليس خارجاً فقط / إنما في داخلي المرهَق أيضاً