Taha Muhammad Ali‘s poetry and fiction emerge directly from his experiences of the Israeli-Arab conflict. He is the author of four books of poetry in Arabic and a book of short stories. His book So What: New & Selected Poems, 1971-2005, whose translators include Peter Cole, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2006. His poetry’s apparent simplicity and homespun truths conceal the subtle grafting of classical Arabic and colloquial forms of expression. In Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and Europe, audiences have been powerfully moved by Taha Muhammad Ali’s poems of political complexity and humanity.
Mr. Ali, along with his translator, Peter Cole, was scheduled to give a reading in Santa Fe in April 2008 in our Readings & Conversations series but had to cancel due to poor health. Click here to watch Mr. Ali read one of his poems, Revenge, at the Dodge Poetry Festival in 2006.