When he was seven years old, Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan moved with his family to a Karameh refugee camp east of the River Jordan. That camp--a center of Palestinian resistance following the Six-Day War and the site of major devastation when Israel razed the camp following the Battle of Karameh in 1968--is the setting for Zaqtan's first prose work to appear in English, Describing the Past. This novella is a coming of age story, a tale of youth set amid the death and chaos of war and violence. It is an elegy for the loss of a childhood friend, and for childhood itself, brought...
When he was seven years old, Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan moved with his family to a Karameh refugee camp east of the River Jordan. That camp--a ce...
" A] rare occurrence in the poetry world."--American Book Review
As a child, Ghassan Zaqtan lived in a refugee camp near the River Jordan. While that painful experience deeply influenced his poetry, when Zaqtan was awarded the prestigious Griffin International Prize, the judges noted: "His words turn dark into light, hatred into love, death into life. His magic leads us to the clearing where hope becomes possible, where healing begins across individuals, countries, races."
When interviewed by PBS for their special on Palestinian poets, Zaqtan said, "I am not the kind of...
" A] rare occurrence in the poetry world."--American Book Review
As a child, Ghassan Zaqtan lived in a refugee camp near the River Jor...
