SAQI BOOKS

A River Dies of Thirst

by Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish is one of the most acclaimed contemporary poets in the Arab world, and is often cited as the poetic voice of the Palestinian people. During the summer of 2006, Darwish was in Ramallah. He recorded his observations and feelings in this diary as Israel attacked Gaza and Lebanon. Darwish writes of love, loss and the pain of exile in bittersweet poems leavened with hope and joy.

REVIEWS:
‘Darwish’s cosmopolitan observations are enticing….What is most appealing about these diaries is that for all the dream-like sequences and surrealist imagery, Darwish did not invent – he experienced.’ Times Literary Supplement

AUTHOR BIO:
Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) was born in the village of al-Birweh in Galilee, Palestine. His family fled to Lebanon in 1948 when the Israeli Army destroyed their village. He has written over twenty books of poetry and several books of essays, including Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982. He has won the Lenin Peace Prize, the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands.