Abdo Wazen
was born in Beirut in 1957. He is a poet, and cultural editor of the international daily Al-Hayat newspaper. He published his first collection of poems in 1982 [The Locked Forest], and since then six others. Copies of his book, Hadiqat al-Hawas [Garden of Sensation] (1993) were seized by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior on accusations of licentiousness.
In 1997 his translation of Jacques Prevert: 50 Poems was published by Dar An-Nahar. He later translated and introduced Nadia Twueni: 20 poems for a Love. Diwan al-Hallaj, edited and introduced by Abdo Wazen, is highly regarded.
His memoir, (An Open Heart), was written after he underwent a major heart operation in 2010, and is excerpted in Banipal 40 – Libyan Fiction.
Contributor's Issues
Banipal No 7 Spring 2000
Banipal No 34 published April 2009
Banipal No 19 Spring 2004
Banipal No 28 Spring 2007
Banipal No 33 Autumn/Winter 2008
Banipal No 40 – Libyan Fiction
Banipal No 41 Celebrating Adonis
Latest News
06/02/2012At a celebration of literary translation on Monday 6 February at Kings Place, Khaled Mattawa will receive the 2011 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
[read more]03/02/2012
The Mosaic Rooms celebrates theartistic and poetic works of the great Syrian poet Adonis with talks and events from 3-8 February and an exhibition of Adonis's collages from 3 February until 30 March. The opening evening this Friday sees Adonis in conversation with Khaled Mattawa who is the winner of the 2011 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for his translation Adonis: Selected Poems.
[read more]16/01/2012
Khaled Mattawa wins the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Translation Prize for Adonis:Selected Poems
[read more]12/01/2012
Chair of IPAF Judges Georges Tarabichi announces the shortlist authors of the 2012 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
[read more]09/01/2012
Banipal Book Club's first book for discussion is The Tobacco Keeper by Ali Bader.
[read more]08/01/2012
Ibrahim Aslan, one of Egypt's best-loved authors, has died of heart failure at the age of 77.
[read more][read all news stories]