The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation has recently released a new book, titled Mahmoud Darwish: Athar Al Farasha La Yazoul (Mahmoud Darwish: The Butterfly Effect Will Never Fade Away). The new book, which is part of the Foundation’s “Symposiums” book series, is a compilation of the various studies and researches that were featured in a symposium previously hosted by Al Owais Cultural Foundation under the same name to pay tribute to late poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008). The symposium had taken place at the premises of the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation in Dubai on the 9th & 10th of October, 2019.
The book includes various studies and research papers that shed light on the poetry and life of the late poet. The researchers who have contributed to the book include Dr. Sharbel Dagher (“Mahmoud Darwish: Poem Politics between Calculated Boldness and Conservative Caution”), Abdo Wazen (“Milestones in the Journey of Mahmoud Darwish”), Dr. Mahmoud Shahine (“What is on this Land Deserves to Live: The Song of Survival”), Dr. Mahmoud Jarn (“Italian in the Mahmoud Darwish Mural”), Sayyed Mahmoud (“Mahmoud Darwish in Egypt: The Pre-Beirut Phase”), Dr. Houriyya Al Khamleishi (“The Dialogue of Poetry and Art in the Poems of Mahmoud Darwish”), Dr. Mariam Al Hashemi (“Individualism in the Poetry of Mahmoud Darwish”) and Dr. Ahmed Bin Saleh Al Tami (Mahmoud Darwish as a Critic: The Poetics of Rhythm).
The introduction to the book underlines the keenness of Al Owais Cultural Foundation to commemorate important Arab innovators who have enriched Arab culture with key values that will be passed on to the new generations and names late poet Mahmoud Darwish as one of these leading figures. Darwish was awarded the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Award alongside other influential Arab innovators such as Mohammed Mahdi Al Jawahri, Nizar Qabbani, Mohammed Al Maghout and Abdullah Al Bardouni among many others who were recognized by Al Owais Cultural Foundation over the years.
Through hosting such cultural symposiums, the Foundation aims at acknowledging and celebrating the achievements of Arab innovators and underlining their strong presence in the cultural arena, hence expressing the pride in and the appreciation of what innovators contribute to society and to history as a whole.
The Foundation has more symposiums about Al Owais Award winners in store for the future. “The symposium about late poet Mahmoud Darwish is symbolic of the pride we have in a great generation of Arab poets who have left an indelible mark on the Arab cultural scene. Darwish emerged from the cloak of the homeland to that of humanity, and succeeded in eternalizing the Arab poem. His poems are read in the language of today and will be read in the language of tomorrow because they will live long in our hearts,” said the introuduction.
It is worth mentioning that poet Mahmoud Darwish had won the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Award for Cultural and Scientific Achievement in its 8th session (2002-2003). The statement of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees had stated the following:
“Darwish represents the genuine picture of poetry in our society. He is the poet of human resistance in general, and the live pulse of the Palestinian resistance. The Board of Trustees believes that Darwish’s experience is not merely limited to struggle, despite his great works in that field. He restored the beauty of the word and liberated it from the effects of repetition, enriched the modern poetic movement with sweet music and profound depth of his poems.”
The new book can be purchased through the website:
