This week, our editors are bringing news of exciting readings, groundbreaking publications, and community events. From Palestine, a new poetry publication brings translations to the forefront, and in China, a renowned playwright debuts work and honors her community. Read on to find out more!
Carol Khoury, Editor-at-Large for Palestine and the Palestinians, reporting from Palestine
In the month of Ramadan, life in Palestine is relatively quiet, with reduced working hours， afternoons devoted to preparing iftar food, and evenings reserved for prayer or social/familial activities. However, the Ramallah Municipality is making the most of this time; from mid-March to mid-October, the library is holding bi-weekly talks with authors and creative writers to explore and discuss their achievements, enriching the social dialogue on various issues related to the worlds of writers and creators they interact with. The program, titled “The Meaning”, will host sixteen renowned and beloved Palestinian poets and novelists in person. All guests will be speaking in Arabic, though Ramallah Library is considering posting recordings with English subtitles. Keep an eye out for these exciting events!
Just across on the side of the Jordan River, the Palestinian/Jordanian poet Tahseen al-Khateeb surprised everybody this week with publishing the first notebook (daftar) of Dafaater al-Shi‘er (poetry notebooks). Described as “an electronic magazine specialized in poetry and the surrounding arts,” the whole project is the sole effort of al-Khateeb’s. On its Facebook page, he introduces the publication as follows: “Poetic notebooks, made according to the mood of Tahseen al-Khateeb, who translates the notebooks’ pages.”
Next to a few contemporary Arab poets, the first issue includes translated works by Gulten Akin, Alexandra Pizarnik, Seamus Heaney, Sandra Cisneros, Yulda Huys, Tomas Transtromer, Mark Strand, Simon Armitage, Margaret Atwood, Adam Zagajewski, Azdak Asif, Don Paterson, Frida Kahlo, and Ezra Pound. With such renowned works, Dafaater al-Shi’er is indisputably a promising project in current times, when poetry overall is on the ebb in the Arab world.
Jiaoyang Li, Editor-at-Large, reporting from China
Poet and playwright Chen Si’an’s newest work, “Dream of Mortals,” recently premiered at Beijing’s Zhongjian Theater. The play focuses on the challenging lives of a large population of commuters who reside in Yanjiao, Hebei but work in Beijing. These individuals face numerous difficulties during their cross-province commutes, especially during the pandemic, such as strict health code checks and PCR testing, which make their lives even more unstable and harsh.
After leading multiple translation workshops with the support of the British Council, Chen Si’an has decided to devote more time on building the community of Chinese playwrights, and incubating more local Chinese stories like “Dream of Mortals.” She has translated plays by British playwrights such as E.V. Crowe, Alice Birch, Alistair McDowall, and Anders Lustgarten, and also recently published her translation of Patti Smith’s Collected Lyrics with 一页Folio Press.
Chen Si’an is also launching an upcoming Playwrights Super Lab event, and if you are interested in participating, more information can be found here.
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