Mahmoud Darwish

Mahmoud Darwish was born in the village of Al Birweh, Palestine. He published his first collection of poems, Leaves of Olives, in 1964, when he was twenty-two. Since then, Darwish has published approximately thirty poetry and prose collections that have been translated into more than twenty-two languages and is considered Palestine's most eminent poet. He is a commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters and is the winner of the 2001 Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom. He lives in Ramallah and in Amman.