Here There Was Once a Country (Field Translation Series) by V??nus Khoury-Ghata

by Vénus Khoury-Ghata

Lebanese writer Venus Khoury-Ghata, who lives in France and has won many of France's major literary prizes, blends French surrealism with Arabic poetry's communal narrative mode in three stunning poetic sequences, presented here in distinguished translations by Marilyn Hacker.

Genres: Poetry, Middle East, France

Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Vénus Khoury-Ghata is a Lebanese poet and novelist, resident in France since 1973. Her work has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, German, Italian and Russian, and she was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2000.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

They photographed the month of April naked
soiled the almond tree's underwear
pressed the poppy's black heart between two stones

We associated with them only at solstices
when the days shortened their skirts up to dusk
and fireflies copulated in lamps

We lost sight of them after the scandal that tarnished the night
suspected of milking the moon to sell its cream to rich galaxies.

[Edita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unable to say where he broke off his relations with roads from now
on his folded feet pace up and down a nonexistent space.

[Mills College Library]

841.914 K458h 2001