Poetry International

(Maghar / Galilea, 1953) has been publishing his poems since he was thirteen years of age. In 1972 he moved to Jerusalem in order to study drama and Arab literature and he has continued living there ever since. In 1983 he received the Harry Hirschorn Prize for Literature.

Virtuosity and a sense of independence characterize his work. He published a great number of poems as well as three collections in Arab; one collection in Hebrew and one in Arab are forthcoming. He wrote a great many reviews and articles about social and political topics for both Israel and Palestinian journals and periodicals and he is considered an outstanding translator from both languages. He rendered Mahmud Darwish's poetry into Hebrew and the opera Turandot into Arab. He presently works in the Hebrew University on a study pre-Islamic Arab poetry.

Characteristic for Salman Masalha's poetry is his consummate command of both classic and modern arrangements in Hebrew as well as Arab. He succeeds in linking the present with the past by his ingenious, exactly polished phrasing and his surprising, dreamlike imagination. One single poem may contain existential, erotic as well as political themes.

Salman Masalha did participate in the international poetry festivals of Mishkenot Sha'anamin in Jeruzalem and Struga in Macedonia and read from his work at other events in Israel and Palestine. Israel radio regularly transmits his poetry.

Naim Areide wrote about Salman Masalha's collection Oriental Scales: `This is an important development in the history of Arab poetry. This collection stands out for its language and style, for its poetic beauty which creates unheard-of new expressions. Each phrasing in Masalha's poetry contains various dimensions but slots harmoniously into the character of the poem. In order to arrive at an overall poetic image he utilizes many unique linguistic combinations.'