The Palestinian Wedding
A Bilingual Reader of Resistance Poetry
Edited by A.M. Elmessiri
About the Book
Poetry has long been Palestine’s most cherished art form: a means of resistance, remembrance and cultural survival. This landmark bilingual anthology brings together a century of Palestinian poetic expression in all its political urgency and emotional depth.
The twenty-one poets gathered here represent a remarkable breadth of voice and vision, from the rhetorical power of Tawfiq Zayyad to the cosmic imagery of Walid al-Halis; from the romantic lyricism of Salma al-Jayyusi to the profound sense of belonging articulated by Mahmoud Darwish. Together, their poems bear witness to loss and exile, love and endurance, capturing the collective experience of a people bound to a shared homeland.
Edited and introduced by the distinguished scholar A. M. Elmessiri, The Palestinian Wedding is arranged around six resonant themes – revolution, war, elegy, belonging, resistance and steadfastness – offering both an essential literary record and a lasting testament to Palestinian cultural life.
About the Contributors
A.M. Elmessiri (1938–2008) was an Egyptian scholar, writer and political organiser. Over the course of his lifetime, Elmessiri wrote over fifty books and numerous articles. His major areas of research included Judaism, Zionism, secularism, modernism and comparative literature. Elmessiri had an MA in English and comparative literature from Columbia University and a PhD from Rutgers University. During his illustrious academic career, he was professor at Ain Shams University, King Saud University, Kuwait University and at the International Islamic University in Malaysia.
About the Editor(s)
A.M. Elmessiri (1938–2008) was an Egyptian scholar, writer and political organiser. Over the course of his lifetime, Elmessiri wrote over fifty books and numerous articles. His major areas of research included Judaism, Zionism, secularism, modernism and comparative literature. ElMessiri had an MA in English and comparative literature from Columbia University and a PhD from Rutgers University. During his illustrious academic career, he was professor at Ain Shams University, King Saud University, Kuwait University and at the International Islamic University in Malaysia.
Reviews
‘It is, quite simply, very important to see all these poems together still ... Reading [The Palestinian Wedding] we learn a great deal about Palestine and about ourselves as human beings.’ Banipal
