Fadwa Toukan
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Fadwa Toukan (Arabic: فدوي طوقان, also transliterated as Fadwa Tuqan, Spanish: Fadwa Tuqant, French: Fadwa Touquan and Fadwa Touqan; b. 1917 in Nablus, d. 2003), known as the Poet of Palestine, was a well-known for her representations of resistance in contemporary Arab poetry.
[edit] Introduction
Toukan's poetry is distinguished by and known for her chronicling of the suffering of her people, the Palestinian, particularly those living under Israeli occupation.
Born in Nablus to a wealthy and prominent Palestinian family, well-known for their accomplishments in many fields, she did not receive any formal education as young. One of her brothers, Ibrahim Toukan, also a well-known poet, gave her books to read and taught her much.
Toukan eventually published eight poetry collections, which were translated into many languages, and also enjoy renown throughout the Arab World. Her book, "Alone With the Days" focused on the hardships faced by women in the male-dominated Arab world. Toukan eventually attended Oxford University, where she studied English and literature.
After the Six-Day War, Toukan's poetry focused on the hardships of living under the Israeli occupation. One of her best known poems, "The Night and the Horsemen", described life under Israeli military rule.
Toukan died on December 12, 2003 at the age of 86 yrs, at the height of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The poem Wahsha: Moustalhama min Qanoon al Jathibiya (Longing: Inspired by the Law of Gravity [1]) was one of the last poems she penned while largely bedridden.
Toukan is widely considered a symbol of the Palestinian cause and "one of the most distinguished figures of modern Arabic literature." [2]
[edit] Bibliography
- My Brother Ibrahim (1946)
- Alone With The Days (1952)
- I Found It (1957)
- Give Us Love (1960)
- In Front Of A Closed Door (1967).
- The Night And the Horsemen (1969)
- Alone On the Summit Of The World (1973)
- July And The Other Thing (1989)
- The Last Melody (2000)
- Longing Inspired by the Law of Gravity (2003)
- Tuqan, Fadwa: An autobiography: A Mountainous Journey, Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A (1990), ISBN 1-55597-138-5, with part two published in 1993
[edit] External links
- Samar Attar: A discovery voyage of self and other: Fadwa Tuqan's sojourn in England in the early sixties, Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Summer, 2003.
- Lawrence Joffe Obituary in The Guardian, 15 December 2003
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