According to the Chinese news agency, the Chinese translation of Osmanthus is made up of 50 poems "that express the poet's affections for China's natural scenery, history, and culture, according to the publisher Yilin Press."
Robyn Creswell on Poetic Modernism in Beirut and Deprovincializing Comparative Literature
"But I was able to find out that some early issues of that magazine did receive funding from the Congress for Cultural Freedom, and that was unexpected."
For National Poetry Day: 10 from New or Forthcoming Collections
Each time I begin to write about love the other woman reaches out and pushes my fingers from the keyboard the lonely woman who lost everything the wild woman who looks like me
Arabic Poetry Friday: Tamim Barghouti’s Latest, Submission Suggestions, Second Graders Read Adonis
Zeinobia has posted a new poem by Palestinian-Egyptian poet Tamim Barghouti, son of Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour and Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti. The poem is "يا شعب مصر." Tamim Barghouti famously wrote "the poem of the Egyptian revolution," which was oft-recited on al-Jazeera and in Tahrir. Although Barghouti has expressed his reservations about seeing his … Continue reading Arabic Poetry Friday: Tamim Barghouti’s Latest, Submission Suggestions, Second Graders Read Adonis
And, Why We Shouldn’t Listen to Poets about Politics
You'll have to forgive John Donatich's hagiographic essay about the Syrian poet Adonis, which just appeared in The Front Table, since Donatich is---after all---the director of Yale University Press, and thus flogging Adonis's wonderful new book.
Was the Arab Novel Prize Given to Al-Koni for Bad Reasons? (And Then, We’ll Forget All That And Talk Poetry)
Let's grit our teeth and get this over with: Did (the extremely talented and worthy) Ibrahim al-Koni win Egypt's "Arab Novel Prize" because judging chair Gaber Asfour wanted to return a chit to Moammar Ghaddafi? After all, Libya awarded Asfour the Ghaddafi Prize for International Literature earlier this year.
Adonis: Poetry is Only Written by Atheists
The Syrian poet Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Asbar) appeared last night in one of the culminating events of the London Poetry Festival. Adonis read along with translatorStephen Watts and fellow poet Yang Lian.
Adonis at Alwan: Always More Beauty to Be Seen
Among Adonis' recent appearances at high-profile New York City venues including the 92 Street Y and Poets House was a reading and Q&A at Alwan for the Arts in Lower Manhattan. The evening began with a brief reading from the recently published Adonis: Selected Poems, featuring new translations in English by Khaled Mattawa. The predominantly Arabic-speaking audience responded vocally to Adonis' dramatic recitations and Mattawa's skilled translations.
‘So Much Survives the Process of Translation’
Yes, it's Halloween, but it's also nearly time for this year's Arab-focused London Poetry Festival. Spooooky!
For Your Thursday Afternoon: (Arab and) Arabic Poetry
Adonis is still working on poetry, but next---his memoirs.
Adonis on What ‘Real Poetry’ Requires
It's no longer Nobel season, but Adonis has a new book coming out in the U.S., so another flutter of press is to be expected. Yesterday's piece in the NY Times followed the Syrian-French poet on a visit to a class that (his translator) Khaled Mattawa teaches at the University of Michigan.
Nobel 2010: Co-Winners Elias Khoury and Amos Oz?
I saw this bit of speculation (Khoury and Oz) not in a major newspaper or magazine, where "Nobel 2010" handicapping hasn't yet begun, but on World Literature Forum, from reader peter_d. Perhaps peter_d isn't in the know, but it got me thinking about the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, which should be announced in October.
