Poet
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Izzidden Manasrah 1946-... country: Palestine language: Arabic |
left his native Hebron to study Islam and Arabic culture at Cairo University. He went on to study comparative literature and worked as editor of prominent Palestinian periodicals. He also taught at the University of Algiers. He has published nine books of poetry. Izziddeen Al-Manasrah was born in 1946 just south of Hebron, where he received his primary and secondary education. In 1968 he obtained a licentiate in Arabic and Islamic studies at Cairo University. In Cairo he joined the Palestinian Student Association and started writing articles for various magazines. After graduating he went to Beirut, where he joined the Palestinian resistance and continued his journalistic career. He wrote for magazines, worked as an editor for literary journals, produced cultural programmes for Jordanian radio, and taught at schools and universities. In the late 1970s, Al-Manasrah went to study Bulgarian language and literature at the University of Sofia, where, in 1981, he obtained a Ph.D. with a dissertation on the Bulgarian poet Nikolai Vaptsarov. His return to Beirut was short-lived. In 1982 he was forced to leave the city; he moved to Algeria, where from 1983 to 1991 he taught at the universities of Constantine and Tlemcen. He returned to the Middle East in 1991, and went to live in Jordan. He was head of the Arabic language department of the newly opened University of Jerusalem, dean of the pedagogic faculty (UNWRA), and professor of comparative literature at Philadelphia University, Jordan. Al-Manasrah began writing poetry as a primary school pupil in 1959. From 1962 his poems were published in leading literary journals. His first collection, Grapes of Hebron appeared in Cairo in 1968. He has received several literary awards, including the Jordanian State Prize and the Prize of the Palestinian Authority. Author: Kees Nijland Translated by Ko Kooman Poets: |
