Guest of the ilb 2005
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 | 
