Ghassan Zaqtan

Ghassan Zaqtan (; born 1954) is a Palestinian poet, author of ten collections of poetry. He is also a novelist, editor. He was born in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and has lived in Jordan, Beirut, Damascus, and Tunis. His book “Like a Straw Bird it Follows me” translated by Fady Joudah was awarded the 2013 International Griffin Poetry Prize. His most recent book of poetry, ''The Silence That Remains'', also translated by Fady Joudah, was published in 2017 by Copper Canyon Press.

His name appeared twice among the short-listed award winners of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in the years of 2014, 2016 by the University of Oklahoma, perceived as the American Nobel Prize.

In recognition of his achievement and contribution to Arabic and Palestinian literature, Ghassan Zaqtan was awarded the National Medal of Honor by the Palestinian president.

Zaqtan, who is also the winner of the Mahmoud Darwish Excellence Award in 2016 (along with Lebanese Elias Khoury and American Alice Walker) was awarded Lebanese poet Anwar Salman's poetry award in 2019 at a ceremony held at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

In June 2013, his name appeared for the first time among the speculation list for the Nobel Prize Literature for the fall of 2013. Ghassan Zaqtan's work has been translated to English, French, Italian, Norwegian, Turkish, German, and other languages. Provided by Wikipedia