Forough Farrokhzad: The Rebel Poet

Albert Camus was a literary giant of the 20th century, known for his philosophy of absurdity in the human quest for the meaning of life. His personal life and North African roots helped shape his writing. In philosophy circles, many called him a prominent voice of existentialism, ...  Show more

Asmahan was a rebel in a world of expectations. From a Druze Princess to exalted singer in 1930s and 40s Egypt – she lived in extremes and did exactly what she wanted. Asmahan also moonlighted as a messenger during the Second World War and when she was killed under mysterious cir ...  Show more

In this ground-breaking work, Michael Sells (the Barrows Professor Emeritus of the History and Literature of Islam and Professor emeritus of comparative literature at the University of Chicago) translates sixty-one poems that form the Tarjuman al-ashwaq or The Translator of Desir ...  Show more

There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the poems attributed to the female Kashmiri poet, mystic and sage known as Lal Ded or Lalla. There are no records of her life but what is beyond doubt is the vitality, wisdom and endurance of her work. Her poems, usually just four line ...  Show more

قصّة من أساطير الحبّ والحرب عند العرب في الجاهليّة، بطلتها فتاة عربية اتّصفت بالحُسن والجمال والعِفّة، لُقّبت بالعفيفة لأنها صانت نفسها تعفّفاً، ولم تعْص أمر أبيها، أمّا البطل فهو ابن عمّها الذي أحبّها وأحبّته، فذاع نبأ حبّهما وانتشر بين القبائل، لكنّ قصّة الحبّ لا تكون قصّة إ ...

Can we understand a culture and a region when we don’t read its authors? And what nuances do we miss when we read them in translation? How are authors and poets from the Middle East reaching new audiences? I speak to poet Zeina Hashem Beck, from Lebanon, living in California, abo ...  Show more