Adel Karasholi

Guest at the ilb 2002

Adel Karasholi was born in 1936 in Damascus, Syria. He published his first poems at the age of fifteen. The youngest member of the Arab Writers Union, he left his home country when the organisation was banned in 1959. In 1961 he came to Leipzig, studied at the Institute of Literature and at the Drama College and graduated on the subject of Bertolt Brecht’s theatre. As a bilingual poet and essayist, his texts often deal with the idea of home: »Home is not a geographically specific location, but a spiritual construct which can only become experienced through writing«. In addition, he translates prose texts, poetry, and drama from both languages. He has recently translated Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry in the collection »Der Würfelspieler«, (2009, tr: The Dice Player).
Adel Karasholi lives in Leipzig.

© international literature festival berlin

Umarmung der Meridiane
Mitteldeutscher Verlag
Halle, 1978

Daheim in der Fremde
Mitteldeutscher Verlag
Halle, 1984

Wenn Damaskus nicht wäre
A1
München, 1992

Also sprach Abdulla
A1
München, 1995

Wie fern ist Palästina?
Passage
Leipzig, 2003

Wo du warst und wo du bist?
A1
München, 2004