Najwan Darwish

Najwan Darwish (Arabic: نجوان درويش ); born December 8, 1978 in Jerusalem, Palestine is one of the foremost Arabic-language poets of his generation.^[1]

In 2014, NPR included his book Nothing More To Lose as one of the best books of the year.^[2] In 2009, Hay Festival Beirut pronounced him one of the 39 best Arab writers under the age of 40.^[3]

Darwish is a speaker and lecturer. Past lectures include "The Sexual Image of Israel in the Arab Imagination" at Homeworks (Beirut, 2008) and "To Be a Palestinian Intellectual After Oslo" at the House of Culture (Oslo, 2009).

Career

Darwish is a poet, journalist, editor and cultural critic. Currently he is the Chief Editor of the Cultural Section of Al Araby Al Jadeed newspaper^[4] and serves as the literary advisor to the Palestine Festival of Literature.^[5] In the past he has worked as the Chief Editor of Min wa Ila Magazine,^[6] and as the cultural critic for Al Akhbar Newspaper from 2006 to 2012, amongst other key positions in cultural journalism.^[7]

Al-Feel Publications was established by Darwish in 2009 and several books by Palestinian and Arab writers have since been published including Letter's From the Earth's Navel in 2011.

Critical reception

"Darwish's poetry is a welcome change in poetic writing in Arabic" according to acclaimed critic Issa J. Boullata.^[8] Darwish's work informed by Arabic and Western poetic traditions^[9] and has been translated into twenty languages.

Sarah Irving of The Electric Intifada wrote, "With this collection of Najwan Darwish’s poetry — beautifully translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid — The New York Review of Books has made available to English-language readers the work of one of Arabic literature’s biggest new stars...Where the classic Palestinian resistance poets — Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and their comrades — sought to describe and depict Palestinian culture and their people’s oppression, and to present often nostalgic or romantic views of the society they remembered or aspired to, this new political poetry is in your face, and often cynical... That is not to say that the nostalgia and the deep-rooted appreciation of Palestinian history and culture aren’t still there; Darwish is far too intelligent a writer to resort to slogans and stock images. He well knows that the “political” points he makes are all the more ravagingly poignant because they are set in contexts which are beautiful, heartfelt and/or evocatively melancholy."^[10]

Kareem James Abu-Zeid, translator of Nothing More to Lose wrote, "As the translator of several different Arab poets and novelists, I have often faced the challenge of finding the right tone, of keeping the language consistent and unified as it is in the original. With Darkish's work I've had to suppress this tendency, and instead consider each poem as its own singular entity. I am not translating one poet, but many, I often told myself as I grappled with–and learned to embrace-the apparent inconsistencies in his poetry. I have come to realize that this wide range of voices is behind much of Darkish's remarkable success as a poet: no Palestinian has every written poetry quite like this before."^[11]

Emily Dische-Becker wrote, "While his poetry is at times political, it embodies a universal message, reminiscent of the great mystical poets like Rumi. From Jerusalem (Palestine) where he works and lives, Darwish has become a distinguished voice for his nation’s struggle. His poetry renders the particularity of the Palestinian experience in luminous imagery and piercing observations, but his imagination and interests are not limited by borders."^[12]

Selected Books

• Nothing More To Lose New York Review of Books, New York, 2014. Translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid.
• Sleeping in Gaza, The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 2016
• Je me lèverai un jour Al-Feel Publications, Jerusalem, Palestine, 2012. Translated by Antoine Jockey.
• Fabrications Al-Feel Publications, Jerusalem, Palestine, 2013. Translated into English by Sousan Hammad. Translated into Spanish by Beverly Perez Rego

Selected anthologies

• In Ramallah, Running By Guy Mannes-Abbott, Black Dog Publishing, London, 2012. ISBN 978-1907317675.
• Printemps Arabes, Le Souffle et les Mots By Gilles Kraemer & Alain Jauson, Riveneuve Editions, France, 2012. ISBN 978-2360130849.
• Voix Vives de Méditerranée en Méditerranée, Anthologie Sète 2011 Éditions Bruno Doucey, Paris, 2011. ISBN 978-2-36229-019-0.
• Revolutionary Poets Brigade Edited by Jack Hirschman, Caza de Poesia, California, 2010
• Beirut39 Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2010
• Wherever I Lie Is Your Bed (Two Lines World Writing in Translation) Edited by Margaret Jull Costa and Marilyn Hacker, Center for the Art of Translation, San Francisco, 2009. ISBN 978-1931883160.
• Language for A New Century, Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond By Tina Chang. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-0393332384.
• Le Poème Palestinien Contemporain, Le Taillis Pré, Belgium, 2008
• Palabras Por la Lectura Edited by Javier Pérez Iglesias, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, 2007
• Pères by Taysir Batniji, with texts by Catherine David and Najwan Darwish, Loris Talmart, Paris, 2007. ISBN 978-2903911843.
• En Tous Lieux Nulle Part Ici: Une Anthologie Edited by Henri Deluy, Le Blue Ciel, Coutras, 2006. ISBN 978-2915232325.

Selected Reviews

• 'Nothing More To Lose' Forges A Connection To Palestine by Amal El-Mohtar
• The edgily modern poetry of Najwan Darwish by Sarah Irving
• Nothing More to Lose by Najwan Darwish by Eric Dean Wilson
• Kareem James Abu-Zeid: A Search for Justice and Expansive Identities by Nathalie Handal
• Translating Najwan Darwish: ‘Are There Any More to Come?’ or ‘Oh Give Me More!’
• THE BODY PALESTINE: A REVIEW OF NAJWAN DARWISH’S NOTHING MORE TO LOSE, by Adam day

External links

• Six Poems in Translation by Najwan Darwish in Cordite Poetry Review
• New York Review of Books

References

1. "Najwan Darwish". New York Review Books. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
2. "Nothing More To Lose". National Public Radio. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
3. "Najwan Darwish". Poetry International Rotterdam. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
4. Handal, Nathalie (21 August 2014). "Kareem James Abu-Zeid: A Search for Justice and Expansive Identities". Guernica. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
5. "Participants". PalFest. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
6. Adnan, Amani. "Najwan". Prezi. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
7. "Najwan Darwish". New York Review Books. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
8. http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2015/march/nothing-more-lose-najwan-darwish Nothing More to Lose by Najwan Darwish
9. "Najwan Darwish". New York Review Books. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
10. Irving, Sarah (27 May 2014). "The edgily modern poetry of Najwan Darwish". The Electric Intifada. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
11. Darwish, Najwan; Abu-Zeid, Kareem James (2014). Nothing More to Lose (1 ed.). New York: New York Review of Books. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-59017-730-3. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
12. Dische-Becker, Emily. "Najwan Darwish". Poetry International Rotterdam. Retrieved 16 January 2015.