Tuesday, August 12, 2008

News at Eleven: None of us really thought he'd die.

Our loss is great, we tell each other. In our minds we think of Edward Said, of Haider Abdel-Shafi, of Faisal Husseini, and even--yes--of Yasser Arafat. The "big men" of Palestine. And now, Mahmoud Darwish.

He was seven when--in the Nakba of 1948--he fled from Birweh, his village in the Galilee. At the age of 12, living in Deir el-Asad, in what had become Israel, with a reputation as a precocious child poet, he was asked to compose a poem for a public reading.

from The Guardian: The laureate of all Arabs
also The Guardian: The life of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (8 pictures)
also The Guardian: Mahmoud Darwish

~~~~~~~~~~~

No comments :