Ghassan Zaqtan
Ghassan Zaqtan ( Arabic غسان زقطان, DMG Ghassān Zaqṭān ; * 1954 in Beit Jala , West Bank ) is a Palestinian writer.
Life
Ghassan Zaqtan's father Khalil Zaqtan worked for UNRWA and Zaqtan initially spent his childhood in Arab refugee camps. The family later moved to nearby Amman . Zaqtan attended a teacher training college in Na'ur and worked as a physical education teacher. From 1978 onwards, Zaqtan lived in various places, including Beirut until 1982 . In Damascus , where he was granted asylum after 1982 , he took over the editing of the literary pages of the Palestinian newspaper "al-Hurriya". In Tunisia he published the PLO literary magazine “Bayadir” together with Ahmad Dahbur until the mid-1990s. In 1994 he moved to Ramallah . In 1998 he was co-founder of the "House of Poetry". He works as head of the literature and publications department of the Ministry of Culture of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and is responsible for the literature supplement to the Palestinian daily newspaper "al-Ayyam".
In addition to his various occupations, Zaqtan mainly writes poetry and edited several volumes of poetry. He also wrote various prose texts, a short novel, and some plays and scripts for documentaries and television productions.
He and his translator Fady Joudah received the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize in 2013 for his volume of poetry Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me , which has been translated into English . Zaqtan was also on the shortlist for the US Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2013 and is nominated again in 2016.
Works
Title selection in transcription
- Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me: And Other Poems . Translated into American and with a foreword by Fady Joudah. Yale UP, 2012
- Comme un rêve à midi . Translated into French by Antoine Jockey. Neuilly: Al Manar, 2010 ISBN 9782913896987
- Laisa min ajli . Dar al-multaqa, Limasol, 1992
- Sama khafifa . Al-Ahali, Damascus, 1993
- Wasf al-madi . Azminah, Amman, 1995
- Istidraj al-jabal . Al-Muassasa al-arabiya, Beirut, 1999
- Sira bi al-fahm . Riad El Rayyes Beirut, 2003
- Ka-tayrin min al-qashsh . yatba'uni Riad El Rayyes, Beirut, 2008
Web links
- Literature by and about Ghassan Zaqtan in the bibliographic database WorldCat
Individual evidence
- ^ Ghassan Zaqtan , at the International Literature Festival Berlin
- ↑ Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan and poet and translator Fady Joudah awarded The Griffin Poetry Prize , at pen
- ^ Finalists Announced for the 24th Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Lyrikzeitung.com, May 27, 2015, accessed June 3, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zaqtan, Ghassan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zaqṭān, Ghassān |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Palestinian author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beit Jala , West Bank |