Description

Mahmoud Darwish was the Palestinian national poet. One of the greatest poets of the last half-century,his work evokes the loss of his homeland and is suffused with the pain of dispossession, exile and loss. His poems also display a brilliant acuity, a passion for and openness to the world and, above all, a deep and abiding humanity. Here, his close friends John Berger and Rema Hammami present a beautiful new translation of two of Darwish’s later works, his long masterpiece Mural, a contemplation of his life and work written following life-threatening surgery, and his last poem, “The Dice Player,” which Darwish read in Ramallah a month before his death. Illustrated with original drawings by John Berger, Mural is a testimony to one of the most important and powerful poets of our age.

Publisher Review

Darwish's poetry is an epic effort to transform thelyrics of loss into the indefinitely postponed drama of return. -- Edward Said Did as much as anyone to forge a Palestinian nationalconsciousness. -- Peter Clark * The Guardian * The most celebrated writer of verse in the Arab world. -- Adam Shatz * The New York Times * an exquisitely designed book, enhanced by several ofBerger's evocative drawings . Mural is a spiralling and circuitous poem, alivewith swerves and sly twists, moving along corridors that dead-end only to openout unexpectedly into detours and hidden passageways. That single adjective,conspicuous in Darwish's spare style, presages the very structure of Mural. -- Eric Ormsby * Bookforum * The translation is very fine: Rema Hammami and John Berger take a few liberties but always keep to the spirit of the poems. It's a joy to read and among the very best Palestinian literature. -- Raja Shehadeh