Rashid al-Da’if

Rashid al-Da’if was born in 1945 in Ehden, Lebanon. Despite the modest conditions of his upbringing, he attended school, studied Arabic Literature at the Lebanese University, and completed two doctorates at Paris. Al-Daif is considered a compelling chronicler of the transformations in Lebanon and an innovative representative of the Arabic Nouveau Roman. In 1979 he published his first book of poems in a new lyric tone. His novel »Fusha mustahdafa bayna l-nu’as wa-l-nawm« (1986; t: Delivered between fatigue and sleep) deals with personal traumatic experience of the war in Lebanon, and his 1995 novel »Azizi al-sayyid Kawabata« (1995; Eng. »Dear Mr. Kawabata«, 1999) was published to considerable international acclaim. He has taught at the Lebanese University in Beirut since 1974.

© international literature festival berlin

Hina halla al-sayf `alá al-sayf
Dar al-Farabi
Beirut, 1979

La shay’ yafuqu al-wasf
Manshurat Lubnan al-Jadid
Beirut, 1980

al-Mustabidd
Dar Ab`ad lil-Tiba`ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi
Beirut, 1983

Fushah mustahdafah bayna al nu as wa-al-nawm
Mukhtarat
Beirut, 1986

Ahl al-zill
Mukhtarat
Beirut, Lubnan, 1987

Taqniyat al-bu’s
Mukhtarat
Beirut, 1989

Ghaflat al-turab
Mukhtarat
Beirut, Lubnan, 1991

Ayy thalj yahbutu bi-salam
Mukhtarat
Beirut, 1993

Azizi al-sayyid Kawabata
Mukhtarat
Beirut, 1995

Nahiyat al-bara’ah
al-Masar lil-Nashr wa-al-Abhath wa-al-Tawthiq
Beirut, 1997

Lirningh Inghlish
Dar al-nahar lil-nashr
Beirut, 2001

Tastafilu Miril Strip
Riyad al-Rayyis lil-Kutub wa-al-Nashr
Beirut, 2001

This Side of Innocence
Interlink Books
New York, 2001
Übersetzung: Paula Haydar

Insi al-sayyarah
Riyad al-Rayyis lil-Kutub wa-al-Nashr
Beirut, 2002

Ma’bad yanjahu fi Baghdad
Riyad al-Rayyis lil-Kutub wa-al-Nashr
Beirut, 2005

Die Verschwulung der Welt
[mit Joachim Helfer]
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2006
Übersetzung: Günther Orth