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MAHMOUD DARWICH, Palestinian Poet
Director(s): Simone BITTON – Writer(s): Simone BITTON, Elias SANBAR Contact Print page
It is hard for Westerners to imagine the huge popularity which poets enjoy in the Arab world. From the Middle East to North Africa, not only do people read more poems than novels, but poetry is considered a living art which should be performed on stage by the authors themselves.
When Mahmoud Darwich recites his poems in Cairo, Beirut or Algiers (or even in Paris and London), packed crowds come to mouth the verse with him. And in some cases (as in Casablanca one day), the poet's voice is relayed by loudspeaker to his admirers thronging the neighbouring streets.