Palestine Advent 9: At a Poetry Festival, by Najwan Darwish

Anthony Wilson, , ,
The ceiling of a covered market in Eastern Jerusalem, a metal cross suspended in the space above the passageway.

The ninth poem in our Palestine Advent series is by the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, translated by Atef Alshaer with the Poetry Translation Workshop.

At a Poetry Festival, by Najwan Darwish.

Najwan Darwish is a poet from Jerusalem, Palestine. He has published nine poetry books in Arabic and his work has been translated into over twenty languages. New York Review Books publish English translations of his books Nothing More to Lose (2014) and Exhausted on the Cross (2021).

You can donate to the Amos Trust Gaza Christmas appeal here

With thanks to Chris Rose and Natalie Jabbar for inspiring this idea.

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Published by Anthony Wilson

I am a lecturer, poet and writing tutor. I work in teacher and medical education at the University of Exeter. My anthology Lifesaving Poems was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2015. In 2012 I published Riddance (Worple Press), a collection of poems, and Love for Now (Impress Books), a memoir, about my experience of cancer. The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, is available now from Blue Diode Publishing. My current research project, funded by the Foyle Foundation, is Young Poets' Stories: https://youngpoetsstories.com/. This blog is archived by the British Library.

6 Comments

  3. As we watch our America flounder and dissolve, as we lament the loss and make plans to leave the country we have loved our entire long lives, this beautiful poem shines a light on the pain of everyone caught in this strange time.

    Thank you for the gift of this poem and for the strength to abide.

    Molly Larson Cook

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dear Molly, thank you as ever for your kind comment. I’m heartbroken to hear you will be leaving the US. Wishing you joy and peace wherever you spend the Christmas season and wherever you go in 2025. With solidarity, Anthony

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