Synopses & Reviews
A Palestinian poet, Ibrahim Nasrallah is among the foremost poets of his generation. In this collection, Nasrallah describes the suffering of the Palestinians not through a personal lens, but through a universal context. He observes life with a natural human tendency toward a love that can heal, transcend, and transform the pain and sorrow of human experience.
Taste
There's the dewy taste of seas and clouds in the dust, the taste of the expanse and the rain, of plains, mountains, humans, of feminity, love, and intrepid oranges, of childhood and saffron, of living in my mother's heart, of travel, and of your soul and mine.But my beloved trees steal toward the sourceto taste it in solitude, before any of us
Ibrahim Nasrallah was born in Amman, Jordan, in 1954, and raised in a refugee camp. After working as a teacher and a journalist, he became vice president of Darat Al-Funoun, Jordan's most prominent art and cultural center. He has written thirteen poetry collections and eleven novels, as well as works of literary criticism. He is also a painter and a photographer.
Omnia Amin was born in Cairo, Egypt. She is an author, translator, and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rick London lives and works in San Francisco. His most recent publication is the poetry collection The Materialist (Doorjamb Press, 2008).
The poet Ibrahim Nasrallah has absorbed both the 'bloody sorrow' of humanity and 'the steady radiance / at the heart of the world, ' that bi-level core of experience which cannot be separated from the sociopolitical. His poems manifest a bountiful and beautiful poetics, and they run a fever. They get under your skin. This is poetry to be read and reread for how it feels--Marvin BellA tragicomic quotidian essence pervades these poems, and palpable echoes of Zbigniew Herbert's words are easily heard. Nasrallah's poems are a welcome translation. They expand and shape our vision of Palestinian poetry's rightful place in world literature.--Fady Joudah
Review
"The poet Ibrahim Nasrallah has absorbed both the 'bloody sorrow' of humanity and 'the steady radiance / at the heart of the world,' that bi-level core of experience which cannot be separated from the sociopolitical. His poems manifest a bountiful and beautiful poetics, and they run a fever. They get under your skin. This is poetry to be read and reread for how it
feels"—Marvin Bell
Review
"A tragicomic quotidian essence pervades these poems, and palpable echoes of Zbigniew Herbert's words are easily heard. Nasrallah's poems are a welcome translation. They expand and shape our vision of Palestinian poetry's rightful place in world literature."—Fady Joudah
Synopsis
A Palestinian poet, Ibrahim Nasrallah is among the foremost poets of his generation. In this collection, Nasrallah describes the suffering of the Palestinians not through a personal lens, but through a universal context. He observes life with a natural human tendency toward a love that can heal, transcend, and transform the pain and sorrow of human experience.
“Taste”
There’s the dewy taste of seas and clouds in the dust,
the taste of the expanse and the rain,
of plains, mountains, humans,
of feminity, love, and intrepid oranges,
of childhood and saffron,
of living in my mother’s heart,
of travel,
and of your soul and mine.
But my beloved trees steal toward the source
to taste it in solitude, before any of us
Ibrahim Nasrallahwas born in Amman, Jordan, in 1954, and raised in a refugee camp. After working as a teacher and a journalist, he became vice president of Darat Al-Funoun, Jordan’s most prominent art and cultural center. He has written thirteen poetry collections and eleven novels, as well as works of literary criticism. He is also a painter and a photographer.
Omnia Aminwas born in Cairo, Egypt. She is an author, translator, and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rick Londonlives and works in San Francisco. His most recent publication is the poetry collection The Materialist(Doorjamb Press, 2008).
Synopsis
Ibrahim Nasrallah is among the foremost Palestinian poets of his generation. In his fusion of historical anguish and personal insight, his poems are deceptively simple and direct, and informed by a generosity of spirit that is rare in any language. While his fiction has received acclaim throughout most of the world, his equally accomplished poetry is less well known. These selected poems, luminously translated by Omnia Amin and Rick London, present a mature poet writing at the height of his considerable powers.
Synopsis
A Palestinian poet, Ibrahim Nasrallah is among the foremost poets of his generation. In this collection, Nasrallah describes the suffering of the Palestinians not through a personal lens, but through a universal context. He observes life with a natural human tendency toward a love that can heal, transcend, and transform the pain and sorrow of human experience.
“Taste”
Theres the dewy taste of seas and clouds in the dust,
the taste of the expanse and the rain,
of plains, mountains, humans,
of feminity, love, and intrepid oranges,
of childhood and saffron,
of living in my mothers heart,
of travel,
and of your soul and mine.
But my beloved trees steal toward the source
to taste it in solitude, before any of us
About the Author
Ibrahim Nasrallah was born in Amman, Jordan, in 1954, and raised in a refugee camp. After working as a teacher and a journalist, he became vice president of Darat Al-Funoun, Jordans most prominent art and cultural center. He has written thirteen poetry collections and eleven novels, as well as works of literary criticism. He is also a painter and a photographer.
Omnia Amin was born in Cairo, Egypt. She is an author, translator, and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rick London lives and works in San Francisco. His most recent publication is the poetry collection The Materialist (Doorjamb Press, 2008).