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Synopsis
Midnight and Other Poems is the first full-length poetry collection to be published in the UK by this remarkable Palestinian writer, previously known to English-language readers for his highly-acclaimed autobiography I Saw Ramallah (Bloomsbury, 2004). "Midnight and Other Poems is the most powerful and interesting collection I have read for a very long time." R.V. Bailey "Never mind that I speak not a word of Arabic. Mourid Barghouti's poetry shines through the translation. There are arresting images on almost every page." Raymond Humphreys Mourid Barghouti has spent many years in exile, and his long poem ‘Midnight’ is a rich montage of images of the land of his birth and the strong emotional responses to which these images give rise. Here, anger, frustration and despair are juxtaposed with yearning and tenderness in Barghouti’s powerful and evocative account of occupation, violence and oppression. The shorter poems which comprise the second half of the book are, by turns, dramatic and hard-hitting, contemplative and reflective, and together present an equally powerful and graphic picture of the poet’s homeland. In Radwa Ashour’s excellent translation, and with a helpful introduction by Guy Mannes-Abbott who recorded a number of conversations with the poet over a period of several weeks, this selection of Mourid Barghouti’s poems marks an important addition to the body of Arabic literature available to English-language readers world-wide. Mourid Barghouti was born in July 1944 in Deir Ghassana near Ramallah, Palestine. He has published twelve books of poetry, the last of which is Muntasaf al-Layl / Midnight, Beirut, 2005. His Collected Works came out in Beirut in 1997. A Small Sun, his first poetry book in English translation, was published by The Aldeburgh Poetry Trust in 2003. In 2000, he was awarded the Palestine Award for Poetry. He lives in Cairo. About the translator: Radwa Ashour is an Egyptian writer and scholar, currently Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Ain Shams University, Cairo. Well-known as a novelist and writer of short stories, she has also co-edited a major work on Arab Women’s literature. As a translator, she has translated into English much of the poetry of Mourid Barghouti, to whom she has been married for many years. In 2007, Radwa Ashour was awarded the Constantine Cavafy International Prize for Literature. About the introducer: Guy Mannes-Abbott has written about writers and thinkers from across the world for The Independent, Guardian, New Statesman and other publications. He has written catalogue essays on contemporary Indian art, speculative essays about London and taught at the AA School of Architecture in London. He is the author of a series of widely published texts – poems, stories and aphorisms called e.things.
Always Midnight, never dawn...Midnight and Other Poems (Arc Publications), is a fine work that deserves a wide readership... Midnight is a long, moving poem but not an arduous read. The blurb describes it as a “montage of images of the land of his birth and the strong emotional responses to which these images give rise” and it is one of the most accomplished poems I have ever read. Lines jump out at the reader, images so strong, stark and moving that they almost induce vertigo...
Pól Ó Muirí
Mourid Barghouti was born in a Palestinian village on the west bank of the river Jordan....and now his epic poem Midnight, speaks movingly about memories of home.
Natalie White
"There is not a single line of propaganda in this book. You will search in vain for any didactic message about Israel-Palestine politics. The only poem clearly prompted by a public event, the televised killing of a small boy by occupying forces on the West Bank, segues into a poignant ghost story in which dream — and dream alone — redeems an accursed time.Instead of polemic and accusation, Barghouti fashions harrowing elegies, mordant ironies, and a gallows humour as bitter as the coffee grounds marking one of the small rituals that help make the days of dispossession bearable..."
Boyd Tonkin
...While you can whisper a poem in a free society, Barghouti has said, people want loud, direct poetry in times of injustice. Yet he has built an eager audience. "You can't expect people with military boots on their necks, facing checkpoints and closures, to understand your sticking to your aesthetic rules," he says. "But my experience says you can read visionary poetry even in a refugee camp. I say 'try it - take this adventure'." For him, "when the poem's written and it's beautiful, I can endure anything."To read the full interview click on the 'Saturday Guardian' link.
Maya Jaggi
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