Without an Alphabet, Without a Face: Selected Poems by Youssef, Saadi (2002) Paperback

by سعدي يوسف

This Iraq will reach the ends of the graveyard.It will bury its sons in open country generation after generation,and it will forgive its despot...It will not be the Iraq that once held the name.—from "A Vision"Living his life in exile—a series of forced departures from numerous countries—Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef also writes outside the long-standing forms of traditional Arabic poetry. In the words of Salma Khadra, a critic of Arabic poetry, "Youssef's poetry abounds with the sights, smells, colors, and movement of life around him, depicting scenes of great familiarity and intimacy. This is a great achievement in the face of the rage and fury and technical complexities of much of the other poetry written by his contemporaries." Beautifully translated by Khaled Mattawa, Graywolf is proud to present this vital voice to the United States.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published December 30, 2002

About the author

1934-سعدي يوسف ، شاعر عراقي ( Saadi Youssef )
ولد في ابي الخصيب، بالبصرة (العراق
اكمل دراسته الثانوية في البصرة
ليسانس شرف في آداب العربية
عمل في التدريس والصحافة الثقافية
تنقّل بين بلدان شتّى، عربية وغربية
شهد حروباً، وحروباً اهلية، وعرف واقع الخطر، والسجن، والمنفى
نال جوائز في الشعر: جائزة سلطان العويس، والجائزة الايطالية العالمية، وجائزة (كافافي) من الجمعية الهلّينية
وفي العام 2005 نال جائزة فيرونيا الإيطالية لأفضل مؤلفٍ أجنبيّ
عضو هيئة تحرير "الثقافة الجديدة"
عضو الهيئة الإستشارية لمجلة نادي القلم الدولي PEN International Magazine
عضو هيئة تحرير مساهم في مجلة بانيبال Banipalللأدب العربي الحديث
مقيم في المملكة المتحدة منذ 1999

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is that what you wished?
To be alone
turning your eyes, waiting for the mail
as if the pages of the letters were waves
that would carry
your tired heart away.
*
I name you and your absence. I pronounce you in the
languidness of slippery moments.
*
But what you’ve come to now is not what you were.
Nothing is left for me.
Nothing left for me except a shade.
*
Let’s stay with this strange evening
and let’s say you’re its only light.

Which of us reached for closeness?
Which of us is deliberating with desire?

Which of us holds in his palms
anything but dead embers?
*
Even the solitude of remembrance failed us

[Loocuh Frayshure · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a poetry expert and, as an English teacher, it’s definitely my weakest area, but I know good stuff when I read it because it makes ME start writing. This caused a whole lot of writing for me. I liked the early and later poems the most though because the middle entered a weird kind of slaggy phase where it all felt kind of pointless and obscure for no reason. Well worth a read though, especially for any honkies like me.

[Miriam Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting Beauty from a Master Poet

Like a modern troubadour, the celebrated Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef has lived in wandering exile from his homeland for more than thirty years. This selection of his lyrical, lucid and accessible poems, translated into vivid English by Khalded Mattawa, brims with love, sorrow and beauty.

[Alexis Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saadi Youssef's collection of poetry tells the story of his exile from Iraq. Rich yet pointed and precise.

[Robert Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine Iraqi poet, from a land of poets.