A Journey Through Language: Fady Joudah

Fady Joudah, Palestinian-American poet who visits the Institute tomorrow, was the subject of a New Yorker interview in 2008 regarding his award-winning translation of leading Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's The Butterfly's Burden:

Q:What do you hope Darwish’s legacy will be?

FJ:I think it will continue to become clearer to the world of letters that Darwish’s poetry is beyond historico-political readings (like certain hackneyed readings of his poem “I’m an Arab”). He was able to forge new rhythms out of contemporary Arabic, and while this is difficult to render in translation, the focus in his work remains, as ever, his belief in the perpetual rebirth of aesthetic. Reading Darwish is a journey through language. Read more.

At UAlbany, Joudah will discuss his translation from the Arabic of Ghassan Zaqtan's Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me (Yale University Press, 2012).