Mural

"Darwish spent his adult life in Israel . The village where he was born was destroyed in 1948. He started writing poetry when he was very young. He later became a communist and was very active politically, although he spent some time in prison. Palestinians living in Israel until 1967 endured a military government and there were many restrictions on their lives. Darwish went abroad to study and stayed away. Leaving Israel was a difficult decision for him. He wrote a lot of great poetry. His earlier poems were patriotic and populist, but not simplistic. As his poetry developed, it became more complex. The book’s first poem, Mural , was written after he underwent life-threatening heart surgery. The second, The Dice Player , is a reflection on the nature of chance in life. The translation is very fine: Rema Hammami and John Berger take a few liberties but always keep to the spirit of the poems. It’s a joy to read and among the very best Palestinian literature."