Selections
She said, I miss the mountains of Persia
He said, I will build a mountain of love for you
Here, in our new country. Be with me.
Live in the temple of now
She said, Listen to the body’s Aramaic
The flesh groans with memory
Ninevah, Babylon, and the birth of the world
between the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates
back when sex was a sacred act
And our bodies, carrying the jug
from exile to exile, keep something of the imprint
of the great goddess with the lion at her side
The body lowers gracefully
its fat clusters of grape, anklets jangling
Beads of sweat lace the hips, the navel
trembling with what is being born
in the flesh of this moment:
The first kiss, new knowledge, absolution
Travel, and the earth will speak to you
Dance, and the belly will remember
the body’s Aramaic,
its ancient ways of love
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]