Khalid Abu Khalid: b. Silat al-Dhahr, Palestine, 1937; worked in Kuwait & Beirut, & now in Damascus; a strongly nationalist poet. 1st collection was A Medal on the Breast of the Militia (1971); 7 further collections.

Layla ‘Allush: b.1948, Jerusalem, an Israeli citizen; an editor of al-Bayadir. 1st collection was Buhar ‘ala al-Jurh al-Maftuh (Spices on the Open Wound, 1971), followed by Years of Drought, My Heart (1972), & Awaal al-Mawwal Ah (The song starts out with Ah, 1975). Poems inc 'The Path of Affection' (on a trip from Jerusalem to Haifa, watching the efficient working of alien technologies such as fertiliser & sprinklers, & feeling inner turmoil: the recent nature of the Zionists' conquest, in comparison to her own rootedness), ‘A New Creation’ (her birth was the time of death, so awaits the dawn).

Naji ‘Allush: see political entry here.

‘Abd al-Latif ‘Aql: b. Dairestia, nr Nablus, 1942. Studied in Damascus, obtaining doctorates in 1979 & 1983 in psychology; has taught in West Bank schools (in 1967), & later Bethlehem & Nablus unis. 7 collections of poetry: inc Shawati’ al-Qamar (Shores of the moon, 1964), Aghani al-Qimmah Wail-Qa (Songs on top of the abyss, 1972), Hiya awal-Mawt (She or death, 1973), Qasa’id ‘an hubb la ya‘rif al-Rahmat (Poems on a Love that knows no mercy, 1975), al-Atfal Yutaridun al-Jarad (Children Chase Locusts, 1976). Poems inc: ‘From Jerusalem to the Gulf’ (the Pharaoh ’s [Sadat’s?] treason; the sorrow of memories from exile, but occupation has disfigured Palestine too). Has also written plays inc al-Miftah (the Key, 1974, which performed at Birzayt), al-‘Urs (the Wedding, 1976).

Mu‘in Bsisu (1927-84): A Gazan; was at the American Uni in Cairo in 1948, & Marxist-influence; lived in Gaza intermittently thereafter, though also around the Arab world with Egyptian persecution of Marxists (spent total of 7 years in jail, up to Mar63). Worked as a teacher, journalist & advisor to, & later head of, the Unified Information Bureau of the PLO in Beirut until 1982. Volumes of poetry inc Filastin fi al-Qalb (Palestine in the Heart, 1965), al-Ashjar Tamut Waqifah (Trees Die Standing, 1966), al-Qatla wa al-Muqatilun al-Sakara (the Slain & the Drunken fighters, 1970), Difa‘n ‘an al-Batal (In defence of the hero, 1975), al-An Khudhi Jasadi Kisa‘n min Raml (Now Take my Body as a Sandbag, 1976). Poems inc 'God was a Soldier behind the Barricades of Damascus' (the Zionist corruption of Judaism into a militaristic religion; but God sides with the oppressed; extensive use of Judaic, Christian & Islamic symbols); ‘The Vinegar Cup’ (extensive Christian imagery: the Palestinian people as crucified). Has also written verse plays inc Ma‘sat Ernest Guevara (the Tragedy of EG, 1969), Thawrat al-Zinj (the revolt of the blacks, 1970), Shamshun wa Dalila (Samson & Delilah, 1971); & vols of autobiography, inc Gaza Memoirs (1971), The Book of the Land (1971), the Bulldozer (1975).

Hasan al-Buhayri. b.1921 in Haifa, a 1948 refugee in Damascus. Work mostly on the Palestinian situation, nostalgia for homeland; collections inc Twilight & Dawn (194[?]3), Haifa in the Heart (1973), To Palestine I Sing (1979), The Thirsty Rivers (1982), Rose Paradise (1989).

Mahmud Darwish. b.13/3/1942 in Burweh (al-Birwah), a mixed Christian-Muslim village between Haifa & Acre in Acre district in the Galilee; family fled to Lebanon in 1948 & their village was destroyed, but they clandestinely returned to Haifa after the census of Palestinians & so left without proper ID papers. A founder of al-Ard, member of Rakah & edited its newspaper al-Ittihad, & was imprisoned & placed under house arrest several times between 1961-1969, often for travelling around the country without a permit. Left Israel in 1970 for USSR, then to Cairo in 1971 (where worked for al-Ahram) & then in 1973 joined the PLO & moved onto Beirut wh was assistant to the director of the PLO-RC, later becoming the director; has edited Shu‘un Filastiniyya and al-Karmel (literary review) from 1981. After 1982, left with PLO forces to Tunis, then (following disagreements w/in PLO) to Paris, Amman, Ramallah (not permitted by Israel to return to Haifa, as he requested after Oslo). Drafted the Palestinian declaration of independence in 1988. President of the Union of Palestinian Writers & Journalists from 1984; member of PLO-EC from 1987 to 9/93. Poetry: 1st collection was Awraq al-Zaytun (Olive Leaves, 1964), which contained poems ‘Identity Card’ (writing in imaginary response to an Israeli official’s questions: defines self as an Arab robbed of his land, who doesn’t hate & only reacts like a carnivore if is encroached upon); & ‘On resistance’ (land, peasant & determination are an unbreakable trinity). Also "Letter from Exile" (see notes in Fatah II.3; not sure if in this collection; Haifa, 1964). 2nd collection was ‘Ashiq min Filastin (A Lover from Palestine, 1966) inc the poem ‘A Lover from Palestine’ (an elegy of the exile of the beloved, which becomes a love song to a vision, which becomes a march: portrays the poet as an activist-warrior, through his song; imagined battle against the Byzantine cavalry; strong religious themes, eg the narrating poet as "the smasher of idols"). Further collections: Akhir al-layl (Night’s End, 1967). Habibati Tanhadu min Nawmiha (My Love Waking Up, 1970), which inc ‘The Man with the Green Shadow’ (an elegy for Nasser, replete with refs to Arab history, both ancient {al-Qadisiyah} & modern {Aswan dam}; Nasser as an ear of grain in Upper Egypt, as beautiful as a factory). al-‘Asfir Tamut fi al-Jalil (Birds Die in Galilee, 1970). The 1st collection since leaving Israel, was Uhibbuki aw la Uhibbuki (I love you or I don’t love you, 1972), which inc ‘Psalms’ (from which the title of the collection comes; a farewell to Palestine). Further collections inc Muhawalah Raqam 7 (Attempt no.7, 1974); Tilka Suratuha wa hadha Intihar al-‘Ashiq (That is her image & this is the lover’s suicide, 1975); A‘ras (Weddings, 1977), which inc ‘Ode to the Land’ (written to commemorate Land Day; the soil is an extension of his soul in his struggle with the conqueror; ends with direct expression of resistance, utilising symbols of the Mountain of Fire, from 1936-9 revolt, & the Islamic history of the land in ref to Jerusalem); & ‘Ahmad al-Za‘tar’ (to commemorate Tal al-Za‘tar). Later collections inc Hisar li-Mada’ih al-Bahr (1984), inc ‘Arabic music’ (wishing man was a stone, devoid of feelings), ‘The earth is too small for us’ (death as the beginning of the future). Other poems inc: 'The Roses and the Dictionary' (the gap between vision & reality entails that one's vocabulary belong to the situation one is rejecting » must find new words {the roses} from the external reality); ‘Promises from al-'Asifa’ (from c.1967; the armed resistance sweeping away old thinking); 'Victim No. 18' (on the Kfar Qasim massacre: innocence betrayed with the speaker killed); 'Concerning Hopes' (Palestinians should not wish to be elsewhere in the Arab world, separated from the Palestinian struggle); 'My Father', who knew how to cultivate land, & who gives the example of Job; 'To My Grandfather', who is garbed in a cloak the colour of soil; 'Awaiting the Return' (Telemachus refuses to search for Ulysses, but instead sits on a mountain to wait for his return: the triumph of the fixedness, steadfast); 'Blessed be That Which Has Not Come' (the Palestinian wedding, as a symbol for the resistance, & martyrdom as only martyrs can rejoin their Beloved). Prose: Also 7 major prose works, inc Yawmiyyat al-Huzn al-‘adi (Journal of an Ordinary Grief, 1973) & Memory for forgetfulness (orig as The Time: Beirut / The Place: August, in al-Karmel in 1986), a series of prose poems based around a single day of the 1982 siege of Beirut, but on the road of permanent exile, how 'here' & 'there' are distinct but both alien; & on the act of writing under siege is a celebration of Palestinian heritage & memory. His Diwan includes the 1st 9 vols of poetry. Profile here.

Zaki Darwish: prose criticises Palestinians who have fallen victim to the fantasies of the past.

Rashid Husayn (1936-77). An Israeli citizen, from Musmus nr Haifa; teacher & organiser of al-Ard & was at various times imprisoned. After 1967, left Israel for US, where he lived in poverty; died in a fire. Poems inc 'To a Cloud' (imagines self as the land of Palestine, invoking Galilee, Haifa, Jaffa), 'At Zero Hour' (self as atlas of Palestine's contours; the Palestinian who stays still, rooted in the earth, moves his struggle forward), 'Jaffa' (the beautiful garden he loved turned into a hashish den).

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra: b.1920, Bethlehem, studied in Jerusalem & Cambridge, UK; after 1948, settled in Baghdad. Has written various books of literary criticism, prose poems, novels, as well as his autobiography. Poetry collections inc Tammuz fi al-madina (Tammuz in the city, 1959); al-madar al-mughlaq (Closed circuit, 1964); Law‘at al-Shams (Sun’s anguish, 1979). Poems inc: ‘The Mouth of the Well’ compares Dayr Yasin to Golgotha = a place of crucifixion but also of resurrection; "Deserts of Exile" (Bawadi al-Nafi, 1953; in Tammuz, pp.61-3) on our wandering in exile, where all is dust.

Salim Jubran: b.1941, al-Buqai‘a in Upper Galilee, an Israeli citizen, studied at Haifa Uni in English literature & ME history; a Rakah activist, working at al-Ittihad & edited al-Ghad journal. Poetry collections inc Words from the Heart (1971), Poems not under House Arrest (1972), Comrades of the Sun (1975). Poems inc 'A Refugee' (on borders: open to nature, eg sunlight, birds & a stray donkey, but closed to the refugee; "I, your son made refugee - Oh my native land - between me and your horizons the frontier walls stand").

‘Ali al-Khalili: b.1943, Nablus; left for Arab Uni of Beirut to study, returning to West Bank in 1977 to work for al-Fajr. Poems inc Dialectic of the Homeland (Beirut, 1976), Nablus goes to the Bridge (1977)

Nazih Khayr: b.1946, a Druze Arab in Israel, from Daliyat al-Karmil, Galilee; studied at the Uni of Haifa. Collections inc Brief Songs (1969), New Readings of the Jasmine Surah (1974). Poems inc 'Chasing the Trojan Horse' (the passage from innocence in a Palestine childhood to the complexity of experience in the exodus).

‘Izz al-Din al-Manasra: b.1946, Hebron; left to study & work outside Palestine in 1964; has edited Shu’un Filastiniyya. Poetry collections inc Grapes of Hebron (1968), Departures from the Dead Sea (1970), The Moon of Jarash was Sad (1974), No one will Understand me except the Olive Tree (1976), Jafra (1981).

Kamal Nasir: see political reference file here. Only 1 collection of poetry, Jirah Tughanni (1961), though others collected from his writings after his death. Poems inc ‘British Injustice’, ‘The Jewish Flood’, ‘Palestine the proud’ (Filastin al-Abiyya), all on the British betrayal of their promises to the Arabs; 'Mona Lisa' (the poet has 2 loyalties - to timelessness, inc the rejection of limits, and to action in his historical time, which must be aware of limits); "Cry of the Tents" (Sarkhat al-Khiyam) on the sadness of the refugees at the end of Ramadan, who wish that people could keep fasting so as to be equal with them.

Samih al-Qasim. b.1939 in Zarqq’, Jordan, of Galilean parents; Druze; educated in Ramah (Galilee) & Nazareth, stayed in Israel after 1948, though repeatedly imprisoned for his political stance; 1st collection was Processions of the Sn (1958). Poems inc 'To Najib Mahfuz' (traditional writing as conservative; new language symbolised by objects without distinct boundaries, like water & a beacon), 'Joseph' (extensive Judaic imagery); 'The Thunderbird' (the inevitability of victory). Generally, expresses a rejection to looking at the glories of the past.

Harun Hashim al-Rashid. b.1927, Gaza; worked as a teacher in Gaza & then director of Sawt al-Arab broadcasting in Gaza . After 1967, left Gaza for Cairo, working as Palestinian rep to the Arab League. Collections inc With the Strangers (1954).

‘Abd al-Karim al-Sab‘awi: b.1942 in Gaza, studying in Gaza and then Cairo, where he worked as a political editor of al-Akhbar newspaper. Early poems were published in al-Khatib (Egypt) and al-Adab (Beirut). Lived briefly in Jordan before moving to Saudi Arabia and finally immigrating to Australia. Books of poetry include "I was called by my own name" (1980), "When the skylark was spared" (1996), "A land of love" (1996), "The Ink Flower is Black" (1998). Novels include "The phoenix" (1989), "The true friend" (1998), "The monster" (1999), "The patient in Waga Waga" (2001). Poems inc: '3 poems to Palestine' sees the Palestinian as Job, through fixity awaiting salvation; Christ-Abel-Job as one, at one with Palestine.

Mayy Sayigh: b.1932, Jerusalem / 1940, Gaza [??]. Graduated in sociology from Cairo Uni, president of Union of Palestinian Women from 1971. Poetry collections inc Garland of Thorns (1968), Love Poems for a Hunted Name (1974), Of Tears & the Coming of Joy (1975).

Fadwa Tuqan, b.1917, the younger sister of Ibrahim Tuqan. Collections inc Alone with the Days (1952), I Found It (1958), Give us Love (1960), In Front of the Closed Door (1967), The Fida’i and the Land (1968), Horsemen and the Night (1969), Alone on the Summit of the World (1973), The Nightmare of Night and Day (1974). Poems inc 'My Sad City' (the frustration of harvesting & the death of crops); 'The Seagull and the Negation of the Negation' (new possibilities, future regeneration & victory); ‘Nida’ al-ard’ (in F.Tuqan, Diwan Fadwa Tuqan {Beirut, 1978}, pp.153-61) in which a refugee on the West Bank infiltrates back by night to his land, nr Jaffa, but an Israeli guard sees him & shoots him dead. "Prophecy of the clairvoyant woman" (Nubu’at al-‘Arrafa, 1970; in Diwan 590-602): basis in Black Sept; clairvoyant who reveals to a woman (ie Palestinians) that the evil amulet (ie 1948) can only be undone by the knight (PRM), but that woman’s brothers (Arab States) will threaten the knight; despite the woman’s attempts to protect knight, brothers slay him; woman sows limbs of PRM into different parts of the homeland; poem ends with prophecy that the knight will be resurrected in the spring.

Tawfiq Zayyad: b.1932, Nazareth, studied in Moscow; also Rakah mayor of Nazareth. Poetry has strong rhetorical lyricism. Also published a collection of folk Palestinian poetry. Major poems inc 'Fire of the Magi' (the speaker knows his eternalness, in living under the reign of a rootless enemy); 'The Impossible' (on the depth of one's origins, a hurdle to the Zionists); 'Here We Stay' (1966; on the heroism of refusing to go into exile, with the very act of fertility an element of resistance; like the prickly pear cactus, a thorn in the enemy’s side); ‘On the trunk of an olive tree’ (1965; Palestinian tragedies carved on the olive tree as a testament).