Saadi Youssef
Saadi Youssef (1934-2021) is considered one of the most important contemporary poets in the Arab world. He was born near Basra, Iraq. Following his experience as a political prisoner in Iraq, he has spent most of his life in exile, working as a teacher and literary journalist throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He is the author of over forty books of poetry. Youssef has also published two novels and a book of short stories, and several books of essay and memoir. Youssef, who spent the last two decades of his life in London, was a leading translator to Arabic of works by Walt Whitman, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Federic Garcia Lorca, among many others.
Reading List
Youth
Translated from Arabic by Khaled Mattawa In ’57 we dug, with our black nails, trenches around Damascus. The groves of Ghouta were as dense as the jungles of the Amazon. From the top of Mount Hermon, water flowed white between fingers coated with dirt. In ’57 we drank arak, a quarter carafe, with a […]
Do You Know That I No Longer Ask About You?
Translated from Arabic by Khaled Mattawa A very long time has passed, and I’ve not asked about you. Have you thought, even for as long as it takes a drunk to stumble, why I no longer ask about you? Today (I mean my day, not yours) is not spent in leisure. I don’t ask […]