Name: Basman Eldirawi Joins #ReadforRefaat by ArabLit Quarterly
Duration: 3 min 6 s
Description: Gazan poet Basman Eldirawi talks briefly about how he knew educator, editor, and poet Refaat Alareer (1979-2023) who died under Israeli bombardment in December before reading a poem he wrote for Refaat.

A discussion with Kareem James Abu-Zeid about working with Najwan Darwish, translating between the 6th century and the 21st, making a living as a translator, the role of prizes in the literary ecosystem, on finding his own voice as a translator, and the importance of creativity in translating.

Kareem: "A novel or a poem is a translation of certain events or feelings or intuitions from life, in one way or another. It’s coming up from something. And I think part of a really good translation is to feel into that original impulse, almost before the text has become what it’s become."

A Conversation with Kareem James Abu-Zeid about Translation & Najwan Darwish

Gazan poet Basman Eldirawi talks briefly about how he knew educator, editor, and poet Refaat Alareer (1979-2023) who died under Israeli bombardment in December before reading a poem he wrote for Refaat.

Basman Eldirawi Joins #ReadforRefaat

Palestinian poet Olivia Elias reads Refaat Alareer's "If I Must Die" in her own French translation.

Basman Eldirawi Joins #ReadforRefaat

ArabLit Quarterly

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