Revolt Against the Sun

The Iraqi poet Nazik al-Mala''ika was one of the most important Arab poets of the twentieth century. A pioneer of free verse poetry, over four decades, she transformed the landscape of modern Arabic literature and culture. Revolt Against the Sun presents a selection of Nazik alMala''ika''s poetry in English for the first time. Bringing together poems from each of her published collections, it traces al-Mala''ika''s transformation from a lyrical Romantic poet in the 1940s to a fervently committed Arab nationalist in the 1970s and 1980s. This bilingual reader reveals how one woman transformed the landscape of modern Arabic literature and culture in the twentieth century. Introduction includes a bio-bibliography of al-Mala''ika, historical and biographical context for her evolution as a poet, an overview of the ''free verse'' debates, and discusses how she reconfigured gender stereotypes.