A Map of Absence Read online

  Toufic Haddad (1975–)

  Toufic Haddad is a Palestinian-American writer, whose publications include Palestine Ltd.: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territory and Between the Lines: Israel, the Palestinians and the US War on Terror (co-author). He holds a PhD from SOAS, University of London, and has previously worked as a journalist, editor and researcher in Jerusalem, including for different UN bodies.

  Nathalie Handal (1969–)

  Nathalie Handal is a French-American poet, playwright, translator and editor of Palestinian descent. Her poetry collections include Love and Strange Horses, winner of the Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Award, and Poet in Andalucía. She has been playwright-in-residence at the New York Theatre Workshop, and her most recent plays have been produced at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Bush Theatre and Westminster Abbey in London. Handal teaches at Columbia University and at the Low-Residency MFA program at Sierra Nevada College and writes the literary travel column ‘The City and the Writer’ for Words Without Borders.

  Rashid Hussein (1936–1977)

  Rashid Hussein was born in the village of Musmus in Umm al-Fahim, Palestine. He worked as a teacher but was dismissed for his political activism. He wrote articles for various publications and poetry. He also translated a number of poems from Hebrew into Arabic including that of the Israeli Jewish poet Haim Nahman Bialik. Hussein was posthumously awarded the Order of Jerusalem for Culture and Art by the Palestinian Authority.

  Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920–1994)

  Jabra Ibrahim Jabra was born in Bethlehem. In 1939 he won a scholarship to study English literature at Cambridge University, UK. Jabra taught English literature in Jerusalem and later, Baghdad. He won many distinguished awards throughout his lifetime as well as a research fellowship at Harvard University, USA. Jabra was an intellectual and artist of many talents. He founded the Baghdad Group for Contemporary Art, held the post of editor in chief of the Arab Art Magazine and served as President of the Association of Art Critics in Iraq. He wrote short stories, poetry, essays, plays, literary criticism and novels and was also a highly accomplished translator. His own works have been translated into English, French, German and Italian.

  Salma Khadra Jayyusi (1926–)

  Salma Khadra Jayyusi was born in Safed, Palestine. She is prodigiously active as a poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She has lectured widely on Arabic literature and was the founder and director of PROTA (a pioneering project of translation from Arabic). She is renowned for several works including a two-volume critical history Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poetry; Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry and An Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature.

  Fady Joudah (1971–)

  Fady Joudah is a Palestinian-American physician, poet and translator. He was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up in Libya and Saudi Arabia. Joudah’s debut collection of poetry, The Earth in the Attic, won the 2007 Yale Series of Younger Poets. His other collections include Alight, Textu and Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance. Joudah was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry in 2014. Joudah also translated poetry including The Butterfly’s Burden, which won the Banipal Prize and was a finalist for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation; and If I Were Another, which won a PEN USA Award, by Mahmoud Darwish. His translation of Ghassan Zaqtan’s Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me won the Griffin International Poetry Prize in 2013.

  Salem Jubran (1941–2011)

  Salem Jubran was born in al-Buqai’a in upper Galilee and studied English literature and Middle Eastern History at the University of Haifa. In 1962 he joined Rakah, the Israeli Communist Party, and worked at al-Ittihad, the party’s periodical. He later edited the journal al-Ghad and also wrote for several newspapers outlets in Israel and elsewhere, including the Lebanese paper al-Nahar. He published three poetry collections during his lifetime.

  Ghassan Kanafani (1936–1972)

  Ghassan Kanafani was born in Acre and fled to Damascus in 1948 with his family. Alongside his career as a writer, journalist, editor and playwright, Kanafani was spokesman and a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Kanafani was prolific across a variety of written forms, from novels to short stories, literary researches and political essays. His fiction, which frequently portrays the complex dilemmas Palestinians must face, is known for its lucidity and clarity of expression. His novellas include Men in the Sun and Returning to Haifa. Kanafani was assassinated along with his niece Lamees after a bomb was planted under his car. He is buried at the Shuhada Cemetery, Jerusalem.

  Remi Kanazi (1981–)

  Remi Kanazi is a Palestinian-American performance poet, writer and organiser based in New York City. He is the editor of the anthology of hip hop, poetry and art, Poets for Palestine, and the author of two collections of poetry, Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance and Palestine and Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine. His political commentary has been featured by news outlets throughout the world, including the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English and the BBC. He is a Lannan Residency Fellow and is on the advisory committee for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

  Abdelkarim al-Karmi (1907–1980)

  Abdelkarim al-Karmi, also known as Abu Salma, was a Palestinian poet. He was born in Haifa and practised law until April 1948, when the Israelis occupied the city. He moved briefly to Acre, then to Damascus. Al-Karmi kept the keys to his house and office in Haifa all of his life, hoping to return one day. Much of al-Karmi’s writing is concerned with his yearning for Palestine. He was awarded the Lotas International Reward for Literature in 1978 by the Association of Asian and African Writers and the title ‘The Olive of Palestine’ was also bestowed on him.

  Ghada Karmi (1939–)

  Ghada Karmi trained as a doctor in the UK and later gained a PhD in the history of Arabic medicine from the University of London. She worked in the health service and lectured widely on the Palestinian cause and the Arab world. She has been a formidable campaigner for Palestinian rights, highlighting the necessity of the right of return for Palestinian refugees. She has written several acclaimed books on Palestine, including her notable memoir, In Search of Fatima.

  Sayed Kashua (1973–)

  Sayed Kashua is the author of the novels Dancing Arabs, Let It Be Morning, which was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and Exposure, winner of the prestigious Bernstein Prize. He is a columnist for Haaretz, a regular contributor to the New Yorker and the creator of the popular, prize-winning sitcom, Arab Labor. Kashua has received numerous awards for his journalism including the Lessing Prize for Critic (Germany) and the SFJFF Freedom of Expression Award (USA). Born in Tira, he now lives in the United States and teaches at the University of Illinois.

  Sahar Khalifeh (1941–)

  Sahar Khalifeh was born in Nablus. She won a scholarship to study English literature at the University of North Carolina and went on to receive a doctorate in Women’s Studies and American Literature from Iowa University. To date she has published nine novels, all of which are concerned with Palestinians under occupation. Her works have been translated into English, French, German and Hebrew. She has won a number of Arab and international prizes, including the Alberto Moravia Prize (Italy), the Cervantes Award Prize (Spain) and the Naguib Mahfouz Prize (Egypt).

  Elias Khoury (1948–)

  Elias Khoury is a Lebanese novelist, playwright and critic. He is the author of thirteen novels, four non-fiction books and three plays. In 2000, he was awarded the Prize of Palestine for his widely celebrated novel Gate of the Sun. He founded the journal al-Karmel with Mahmoud Darwish and currently works as the Editor-in-Chief of the cultural pages of the daily newspaper An-Nahar.

  Ghayath al-Madhoun (1979–)

  Ghayath al-Madhoun is a Palestinian poet born in Damascus now living in Sweden. He has published four collections of poetry, and his work has been translated into fourteen languages.
He has won numerous prizes, including the Klas de Vylders Stipendiefond for immigrant writers (Sweden). He co-wrote Till Damascus with the Swedish poet Marie Silkeberg, which was included in the Swedish national broadsheet Dagens Nyheter critic’s list for Best New Books and produced as a Radio Play for Swedish National Radio.

  Raba’i al-Madhoun (1945–)

  Raba’i al-Madhoun is a journalist and novelist. Born in al-Majdal, Palestine, he now lives and works in London as a writer and editor at the leading Arabic daily, Asharq Al-Awsat. Al-Madhoun’s debut novel, The Lady from Tel Aviv, is a bestseller in the Arab world and was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2010. Al-Madhoun won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction with his second novel, Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba.

  His other works include The Idiot of Khan Younis and The Taste of Separation.

  Abdelrahim Mahmoud (1913–1948)

  Abdelrahim Mahmoud was born in ’Anabta, Tulkarm. He was a student of Ibrahim Tuqan and under Tuqan’s tutelage became a professor of Arabic Literature at Al-Najah School. When the uprising against the British Mandate began, Mahmoud left his job and attended a military college in Iraq for three years. He returned to Palestine to fight against the Zionists where he died during what became known as the Battle of the Tree near Al-Nasirah, Nazareth. Islam features heavily in Mahmoud’s poetry. Four long poems are known to us. Two of them concern the Qur’an and two focus on the Prophet Muhammad.

  Lisa Suhair Majaj (1960–)

  Lisa Suhair Majaj is a Palestinian-American poet and academic. Born in Hawarden, Iowa, Majaj was raised in Jordan. She studied English literature at the American University of Beirut and received a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan. In 2001, she moved to Nicosia, Cyprus. Her poetry and essays have been widely published. In 2008, she was awarded the Del Sol Press Annual Poetry Prize for her poetry manuscript Geographies of Light. She has also co-edited three collections of essays on international women writers.

  Izzuddin Manasra (1946–)

  Izzuddin Manasra is a writer, academic and journalist, born in Hebron. He received a PhD in Slavic literature from the Bulgarian Academy of Science. He has worked as the director of Cultural Programs for Jordanian radio, the editor of Palestinian Affairs magazine and as a professor of Comparative Literature at Constantine University, Algeria. One of his main areas of interest has been reviving the style and themes of Canaanite poetry. He has been the Secretary General of the Arab Contemporary Literary Society since 1984.

  Ibrahim Nasrallah (1954–)

  Ibrahim Nasrallah is a poet, novelist, professor and photographer, born in Amman and raised in Palestinian refugee camps. He has published more than eleven novels and is the Vice President of Darat Al-Funoun, the most prominent art and cultural centre in Jordan. Nasrallah is also an activist for Palestinian rights. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of Palestinian amputees, drawing attention to the cause through recounting the experience in his prize-winning novel The Souls of Kilimanjaro. His work has been translated into numerous languages including English, Italian and Danish, and won many awards, such as the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Second War of the Dog, the Naguib Mahfouz Prize and the Tayseer School prize.

  Naomi Shihab Nye (1952–)

  Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter and novelist born in St Louis, Missouri. Her father was a Palestinian refugee and her mother an American of German and Swiss descent. She has written numerous collections of poetry including Different Ways to Pray, 19 Varieties of Gazelle, Red Suitcase and Is This Forever, Or What?, and edited many more. She has also published an essay collection, Never in a Hurry, a young-adult novel, Habibi, and a picture book, Lullaby Raft. Nye is the recipient of numerous honours and awards including a Lavan Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Carity Randall Prize and many Pushcart Prizes. From 2010–2015 she served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

  Samih al-Qassim (1939–2014)

  Samih al-Qassim was born in Zarqa, Jordan. He was among the first of the Arab Druze to defy the compulsory military service imposed by the Israeli authorities. He became a teacher in Galilee but was dismissed from his post by the Israeli education minister. He found alternative employment as an assistant electrical welder, a gas station attendant and inspector in the Urban Planning Department in Nazareth. Al-Qassim edited both al-Ittihad, the organ of the Communist Party in Arabic and the cultural magazine al-Jadid. He also helped to establish Arabesque Publishing House, ran the Popular Arts Institute in Haifa and headed the Arab Writers Union in Israel. Al-Qassim published seventy books and won many awards, including the Jerusalem Medal for Culture, the Naguib Mahfouz Prize and the Palestine Prize for Poetry.

  Edward Said (1935–2003)

  Edward Said was a Palestinian-American academic, political activist and literary critic. He attended Princeton and Harvard Universities, where he specialised in English literature. He joined the faculty of Columbia University as a lecturer, and later became a professor. He was an outspoken proponent of the political rights of the Palestinian people. In 1978 Said published Orientalism, his best-known work and one of the most influential scholarly books of the twentieth century.

  Amira Sakalla (1994–)

  Amira Sakalla is a Palestinian activist. She founded Students for Justice in Palestine whilst studying at the University of Tennessee, studied Violence, Conflict and Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and has interned at If Americans Knew and Friends of Sabeel North America. She blogged about Palestine from her tumblr account ‘Coffeeandslingshots’, which has since been deleted, and now contributes articles to the likes of Huffington Post and The New Arab.

  May Sayigh (1940–)

  May Sayigh was born in 1940 in Gaza and studied Sociology and Philosophy at Cairo University. She was the president of the Union of Palestinian Women and has been very active in the cause of Palestinian women and liberation. She has published a number of poetry collections as well as a prose account of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in The Siege. She lives in Paris.

  Adania Shibli (1974–)

  Adania Shibli has written novels, plays, short stories and narrative essays. She has twice been awarded the Qattan Young Writer’s Award, once for her novel Touch and in 2003 for her novel We Are All Equally Far from Love. She is the editor of Dispositions, an art book about contemporary Palestinian artists. Shibli is a visiting professor at Birzeit University.

  Dareen Tatour (1982–)

  Dareen Tatour is a Palestinian poet and photographer, born in Reineh near Nazareth. She was arrested in 2015 in Israel over her published poem ‘Resist, My People, Resist Them’. She was placed under house arrest, tried and convicted, and served a prison sentence over social media postings she made in Arabic on Youtube, Facebook and her blog. She was released on 20 September 2018. Her debut collection of poetry The Last Invasion was published in 2010. Her latest collection of poems and a novel titled An Appointment with the Whales were ready for publication, but exist only on her laptop, which was confiscated by Israeli authorities.

  Fadwa Tuqan (1917–2003)

  Fadwa Tuqan was a poet from Nablus, and sister of Ibrahim Tuqan. She studied English literature at Oxford University and published eight poetry collections, which enjoyed renown throughout the Arab world. Selections of her poetry have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Persian and Hebrew. Tuqan was elected to the Board of Trustees of al-Najah University when it was founded in 1977, wrote the university anthem and was granted an honorary doctorate. She won numerous prizes, including the annual Sulayman Arar Poetry Prize, the Prize of the Union of Jordanian Writers, the Sultan Uways Prize of the United Arab Emirates, the Prize of the World Festival of Contemporary Writing, the Tunisian Cultural Medal and the PLO Prize for literature.

  Ibrahim Tuqan (1905–1941)

  Ibrahim Tuqan was a poet and teacher of Arabic literature. In 1929 he began to compose nationalist poetry
. He wrote of the land and criticised quarrels among Palestine’s leaders. ‘My Homeland’, Tuqan’s best-known ode, was put to music and became the unofficial anthem of Palestine and the Iraqi anthem after the US invasion in 2003. ‘The Red Tuesday’ was composed and recited in response to the 17 June 1930 executions of Fouad Hijazi, Muhammad Jamjoum and Atta al-Zeer. The PLO posthumously awarded Tuqan the Jerusalem Medal for Culture, Arts and Literature in January 1990.

  Fawaz Turki (1941–)

  Fawaz Turki was born in Haifa, Palestine. He is the author of a number of books, including The Disinherited: Journal of a Palestinian Exile and Exile’s Return: The Making of a Palestinian-American, as well as several poetry collections. He has lectured around the country and has been published extensively in the US. He has been a writer-in-residence at both SUNY Buffalo and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He currently lives in Washington, DC.