Poets For Palestine [Paperback]

Remi Kanazi (Editor) (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2008

Poets For Palestine is a unique collection of poetry, spoken word, hip-hop, and art devoted to Palestine.

Unifying a diverse range of poets who have used their words to elevate the consciousness of humanity, the book aims to bridge a younger generation of poets with those who, for decades, have cultivated and strengthened the poetic medium.

Poets For Palestine includes poems by the late Mahmoud Darwish, Amiri Baraka, Naomi Shihab Nye, Suheir Hammad, Nathalie Handal, Patricia Smith, E. Ethelbert Miller, Melissa Tuckey, Ghassan Zaqtan, Remi Kanazi, Dima Hilal, Sholeh Wolpe, Ibtisam Barakat, Philip Metres, Venus Khoury-Ghata, Kathy Engel, Laila Halaby, The N.O.M.A.D.S., Hamida Begum, Tahani Salah, Deema Shehabi, Lisa Suhair Majaj , Hayan Charara, Melissa Hotchkiss, Veronica Golos, Junichi P. Semitsu , J.A. Miller, Marian Haddad, Fady Joudah, Fawzia Afzal-Khan , D. H. Melhem, Pierre Joris, Nizar Wattad (a.k.a. Ragtop), Marilyn Hacker, Alicia Ostriker, and Annemarie Jacir.

All of the proceeds of this volume will go towards funding future cultural endeavors in the US that highlight Arab artistry.

At a time when conditions for Palestinians have become increasingly devastating, Poets For Palestine seeks to give humanity its proper voice and attempts to further demonstrate the role art takes in transmitting and projecting the enormous weight of compassion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Judging by the quality, expressiveness and relevance of these poems, there is every reason to be hopeful."
-The Jordan Times

"A long list of lucid poets, compelling art and moving verses takes the reader into an investigative, artistic journey of the Palestinian experience: loaded with loss, yet brimming with hope."
-Ramzy Baroud, author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People s Struggle

"It is through the prism of historic Palestine that the poems mushroom into different trajectories, where love, yearning, hope, memory, resistance, injustice and death are sites of contextual reflection."
Electronic Intifada

"Poets For Palestine, a unique collection of poetry, spoken word, hip-hop, and art, expresses the pain and suffering...in Palestine"
-Islamic Horizons

"Palestine is a paradigm for every human experience, great and small, and this wonderful, beautiful collection presents a crystal with a thousand facets, as every poem in itself is a world unto itself."
-Palestine Think Tank

"Most powerfully, what this book reveals is not simply that the Palestinian struggle is THEE struggle, but part and parcel of the struggles of indigenous populations throughout the world. Viewing the struggle through this lens makes this collection of multifarious voices timeless and timely.
---KABOBfest

Poets For Palestine, a unique collection of poetry, spoken word, hip-hop, and art, expresses the pain and suffering...in Palestine
-Islamic Horizons

Most powerfully, what this book reveals is not simply that the Palestinian struggle is THEE struggle, but part and parcel of the struggles of indigenous populations throughout the world. Viewing the struggle through this lens makes this collection of multifarious voices timeless and timely.
-KABOBfest --Islamic Horizons and KABOBfest

About the Author

Remi Kanazi is Palestinian-American poet, writer, and editor based in New York City. He is the co-founder of the political website PoeticInjustice.net. His political commentary, which primarily focuses on Palestine, has been featured in a multitude of print and online publications. He has performed his poetry at many venues across the US, while his political commentary can regularly be seen on Al Jazeera English.

Product Details

• Paperback: 118 pages
• Publisher: Al Jisser Group; 1st edition (August 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930083092
• ISBN-13: 978-1930083097
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,643,587 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 wonderful selection of poetry, September 28, 2008

By 

Zouz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poets For Palestine (Paperback)

From Mahmoud Darwish to Ghassan Zaqtan, this volume really evokes what I understand to be the sentiment of Palestinians within Palestine as well as throughout the diaspora. Expressions of optimism and hopelessness inform the dichotomy that describes Palestinian existence. As a Palestinian, I found that the selections chosen in this anthology cover a broad range of ideas related to Palestinian life, while extending universal appeal to indigenous communities worldwide--in both subject and authorship. Perhaps anyone would feel engaged by the dialog of a refugee when immersed in the words of these pages. Those words in concert with about thirty images, some beautiful and others jarring, drawn by artists who reside in Palestine complete this collection. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the subject and to anyone else who would like to explore the talented poets and artists featured in Poets for Palestine.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting selection of touching poems and stunning artwork, September 8, 2008

By 

Rima (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poets For Palestine (Paperback)

I'm not really a poetry person, but I loved this book! The topic of the poems ranged a lot and each was touching in its own way. The stunning, impressive artwork by Palestinian artists was a great addition to the collection. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in poetry, politics, human rights and/or Palestine! Now that I've read the book, I'm interested in looking up some of the poets to find other works by them.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A diverse collection of poems and art, October 1, 2008

By 

Adam B. Smith (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poets For Palestine (Paperback)

Diverse styles of poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop coupled with 30 pieces of original art make "Poets for Palestine" an invaluable read. If this anthology is meant to open the eyes of the ignorant, it does it's job. If it is meant to further the education of the sympathetic, it does it's job. This book echoes those whose voice continues to fall on too many a deaf ear around the world. And although I can't personally relate to many of the vivid pictures that it conjures up in my head, "Poets for Palestine" allows me to bear witness through the eyes of those that have. In that, it does it's job.