The Silence That Remains - Zaqtan, Ghassan

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Résumé :
[A] rare occurrence in the poetry world.-American Book Review As a child, Ghassan Zaqtan lived in a refugee camp near the River Jordan. While that painful experience deeply influenced his poetry, when Zaqtan was awarded the prestigious Griffin International Prize, the judges noted: His words turn dark into light, hatred into love, death into life. His magic leads us to the clearing where hope becomes possible, where healing begins across individuals, countries, races. When interviewed by PBS for their special on Palestinian poets, Zaqtan said, I am not the kind of person who will walk in front of the demonstration. I walk behind the demonstration in order to collect the small things that may fall, whether it's the handkerchief or a child's backpack or a purse. This generous volume represents two decades of incandescent creativity. Handkerchief Nothing's left to say between us everything went into the train that hid its whistle in the smoke that didn't become a cloud in the departure that gathered your limbs so let your death be the insight of dazzling silver and let the sun of those cities be a rose on your shoulders Ghassan Zaqtan is the author of over a dozen books of poetry and fiction, and has edited the poetry journal Al-Soua'ra and the literary magazine of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Bayader. He lives in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he is the Founding Director of The House of Poetry....

Sommaire:
Palestinian poet, novelist, and journalist Ghassan Zaqtan is one of the most consequential writers of our time. His unadorned, cleanly delivered narratives of war and witness are animated by a joyful sensuality-how better to express loss than to illuminate living the dailiness of resistance? Zaqtan's poems are elegantly translated and introduced by Fady Joudah, a Palestinian-American poet whose insight into Zaqtan's work is at once intimate and historical. The books from which these poems were drawn are themselves survivors of disposession, occupation, and exile-in some cases only a few copies remain of the original Arabic editions. When interviewed by PBS for their special on Palestinian poets, Zaqtan said, I am not the kind of person who will walk in front of the demonstration. . . . I walk behind the demonstration in order to collect the small things that may fall, whether it's the handkerchief or a child's backpack or a purse. This generous volume represents two decades of incandescent creativity....