The Poetry of Arab Women [Paperback]

Nathalie Handal (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

Arab women poets work within one of the oldest literary traditions in the world, yet they are virtually unknown in the West. Uniting Arab women poets from the all over the Arab World anti abroad, Nathalie Handal has put together an outstanding collection that introduces poets who write in Arabic, French, English, and Swedish, among them some of the twentieth century's most accomplished poets and today's most exciting new voices.

Translated by distinguished translators and poets from around the world, The Poetry of Arab Women showcases the work of 82 poets, among them: Etel Adnan, Andre Chedid, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Fadwa Tuqan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The anthology was prepared to eradicate invisibility," writes Nathalie Handal (The Never Field) of Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology. With research help from groups like RAWI (Radius of Arab-American Writers, Inc.) and from Arab-American newspapers and journals like Al Jadid, Handal has gathered work from "most of the older and newer contemporary voices" of the Arab diaspora over 80 poets writing in Arabic, French, English and other languages, and living in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza and the U.S. Handal's introduction, along with biographical notes on the poets and many translators, helps to place them.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The Arab world's poetic tradition predates Islam, but it was through the social revolution of Islam that it became possible to be a poet, an Arab, and a woman. Ancient Arab women are sometimes anthologized, but contemporary poets don't get the attention that they deserve and that this ambitious volume begins to give them. These poems were garnered from throughout the world and translated from Arabic, French, and other languages by many hands. Some of the featured poets have lived their whole lives outside the Arab world, and although many rely on Arab poetic traditions and forms, the "Arabness" of others is subtler. The book's contents vary in quality, for established poets like Naomi Shihab Nye are juxtaposed with little-known American graduate students. Yet out of a cacophony of voices, styles, and visions, deeper understanding of what it means to be an Arab and a poet can be obtained. Although it can be criticized for favoring breadth over depth, this anthology answers a long-felt need, and its arrival should be celebrated. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Publishing Group (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566563747
• ISBN-13: 978-1566563741
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #493,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long good look into a fascinating world, February 12, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Poetry of Arab Women (Paperback)

The editor of this book, Nathalie Handal, deserves commendation for her work. If you hold the common view of Arab women as submissive and repressed beings, this book might be the thing for you. Even though repression and sexual discrimination may be harsher in Arab societies than in our Western world, that seems to be only one side of reality. What this anthology shows us is strong-willed, sensitive and opinionated women, who are also highly skilled in that most demanding of crafts - poetry. Inevitably, some of the poems are better than others. But the first alone justify buying the book, for they are VERY good. The translations are also (as far as one can ascertain through taste and personal intuition) good, with the possible exception of Munia Samara's poems, where the translator several times seems to refer to a city as both "it" and "she", occassionally in the same line: "It has not surrendered her keys to one prophet", "it opens its windows / and throws a bone / to the barking Napoleon around her walls".
Notwithstanding these minor flaws, the book is enjoyable and worthwhile as a field guide for discovering the fascination of the Arab world and its remarkable women poets.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shimmer of Strength Shines Brightly, January 13, 2005

By 

Hortensia Anderson "Hortensia Anderson" (nyc, ny, usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Poetry of Arab Women (Paperback)

I purchased this wonderful volume as a result of the war - I wanted to get inside the creative mind of Arab women. And I have found that poetry is the way to do it. Nathalie Handel has given us a real gift - a book filled with beautiful, strong poetry.

These are a just a few examples to whet your appetite from a substantial body of breathtaking poetry:

Zakiyya Malallah from Qatar:

"She picks me
and reconstitutes my colours."

"You treasure me on your lips,
I burst like a swing
and dangle like fragrance."


or Habiba Muhammadi from Algeria:

"No one can stand
In the face of the sun
It alone knows
Th way to the sunset."

"The hearts raided by loneliness
lead the conquests of the word."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended, January 5, 2002

By 

Hala Innab (SM, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Poetry of Arab Women (Paperback)

Arab women have been writing poetry since the dawn of time. Reading modern poerty by Arab women however is a delight. This book encompasses poems that reveal the struggle of being an Arab in the U.S, the struggle of migration, war, occupation, and the struggle of cultural identity.
I highly recommend this book to those who love poetry and those who wish to understand what it means to be an Arabic women living in the United States.