Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Mahmoud Darwish & Palestinian poetry

Mahmoud Darwish died Saturday August 9, 2008 at the age of 67.  Numerous homages have been printed to honor this major resistance figure of Palestinian literature.

The New York Times (August 10, 2008)
The Guardian (August 12, 2008)
The Chicago Tribune (August 9, 2008)

One famous poem is "Identity Card," a rendition of the Arab man who must give his identity number to Israeli and Arab authorities, found in his first collection Bird without Wings.  His last book of poetry came out in 2008, The Impression of Butterflies.

Darwish will be given a state funeral.  See more on Darwish through Ron Silliman's Blog, the page on Darwish at poets.org, and the Darwish website.