Asmaa Azaizeh

Reading by Asmaa Azaizeh

During the main readings of festival poets, each poet will receive the undivided attention of the audience for the duration of the program. The poets have pre-picked a selection of poems, which they will read in its entirety during their main reading. After the reading, there will be time to ask the poets questions about their work that you've always wanted to know the answer to! 

Bio Asmaa Azaizeh

Asmaa Azaizeh is a Palestinian poet and interdisciplinary artist, who was appointed the first director of the Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah in 2012.

In her poetry she does not shy away from raising heavy topics such as war, grief and memory as well as depicting the dire and inhumane circumstances in Palestine, not allowing the reader to look away. Her poems express a disillusionment with those in power and are fiercely outspoken against oppression. Her poems are clear-cut and powerful, and despite the painful present and the ominous future, she defiantly searches for glimmers of hope and beauty in her poems. 

Asmaa Azaizeh has published four poetry collections. The Al Qattan Foundation recognized her with the Debutant Writer Award for her debut Liwa (2011). Her collection Don’t Believe Me If I Talk To You Of War (2019) was translated into Dutch and Swedish. Azaizeh’s poetry has also been translated into German, Spanish, Farsi, Italian, Greek and Hebrew, among others. 

Furthermore, she has worked as a cultural editor for several leading Palestinian and Arabic newspapers, and as a presenter for television and radio. Azaizeh currently runs Shahrur, an online bookstore for children’s books.