Sargon Boulus: “This Great River”—Translating the Beats into Arabic
Sargon Boulus: “This Great River”—Translating the Beats into Arabic
$10.00
This book comes with a facsimile reproduction of “Tigris” featuring a long poem “Jebu” by Etel Adnan
Editor and Translator: Khaled al-Hilli
Introduction: Sinan Antoon
54 pp, softcover, saddle-stitch binding
ISBN: 978-1-958675-01-4
The Great River—Translating the Beats into Arabic traces the literary encounters of Sargon Boulus (1944-2007), an Iraqi poet who was part of the vibrant literary scene of late 60’s San Francisco. His life was marked by a period of restless traveling, that he would later describe as an attempt to pursue a poetic imaginary. This project continues to map his proximity to the Beat poets, his short-lived Bay Area poetry journal, Tigris, and his other English language publications. This publication includes a facsimile reproduction of Tigris ,featuring a long poem “Jebu” by Boulus’ good friend Etel Adnan.
Editor
Khaled Al Hilli
Khaled Al Hilli teaches Arabic at New York University and completing a doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center on the post 2003 Iraqi novel. His research is a comparative examination of literary narratives written by Iraqi and American writers, primarily from 2003 to the present. In addition to exploring the interplay between space and memory in contemporary Iraqi novels, his research explores fiction as an indicator of social, political and historical imaginaries, and explores its role in the construction of racial and national identity in the US, as well as the socio-economic factors involved in the construction of literary and cultural paradigms.
Sinan Antoon
Sinan Antoon is a poet, novelist, translator and scholar. He has published two collections of poetry and five novels. His most recent work is Postcards from the Underworld (Seagull Books, 2023). His scholarly works include The Poetics of the Obscene in Pre-Modern Arabic Literature and numerous articles on modern Arabic poetry and contemporary Iraqi culture. His essays and creative writings in Arabic have appeared in various journals in the Arab world and in English in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Journal of Palestine Studies, and Critical Times. His literary translations from Arabic include Mahmoud Darwish’s In the Presence of Absence. He is associate professor at the Gallatin School, New York University. He is co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya.
Etel Adnan (1925–2021): Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and artist whose work encompasses a variety of media. She left Beirut in 1949 and lived between San Francisco and Paris. She is celebrated for her unique contributions to both literature and art.
