The Silence That Remains

<p>Palestinian poet novelist and journalist Ghassan Zaqtan is one of the most consequential writers of our time. His unadorned cleanly delivered narratives of war and witness are animated by a joyful sensuality-how better to express loss than to illuminate living the dailiness of resistance? Zaqtan's poems are elegantly translated and introduced by Fady Joudah a Palestinian-American poet whose insight into Zaqtan's work is at once intimate and historical. The books from which these poems were drawn are themselves survivors of disposession occupation and exile-in some cases only a few copies remain of the original Arabic editions. </p><p>When interviewed by PBS for their special on Palestinian poets Zaqtan said I am not the kind of person who will walk in front of the demonstration. . . . I walk behind the demonstration in order to collect the small things that may fall whether it's the handkerchief or a child's backpack or a purse. This generous volume represents two decades of incandescent creativity.</p>