Literary world celebrates Palestinian poet's 75th birthday
The Palestinian cause is omnipresent in the minds of Arab and world peoples thanks to renowned poet Mahmoud Darwish, whose work is still widely appreciated seven years after his death.
Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish was born on March 13, 1941, in the Galilee village of al-Birweh. Darwish’s birthplace has now been replaced by Jewish settlements. Moshav Ahihud and Kibbutz Yasur now sit where the Palestinian village once stood in northern Israel, east of the port city of Acre. Today, 75 years after his birth, Darwish is being recognized as an Arab international literary icon.
Palestinian literary critic Faisal Darraj manages the Mahmoud Darwish Foundation's Mahmoud Darwish Award for Creativity. Darraj told Al-Monitor that in honor of Darwish, annual prizes of $25,000 are awarded to Palestinian, Arab and international literary artists.
