São Paulo – Syrian poet Adonis, the pseudonym of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, will be paid tribute by the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe) on Wednesday (17th) at 08:00 pm at Casa das Rosas –Haroldo de Campos Poetry and Literature Facility. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the University of São Paulo are among the supporters of "Dîwân poesia de Adonis" (Dîwân of Adonis’ poetry).
The event will be attended by poets such as Horácio Costa, Moacir Amâncio, Claudio Daniel, Marco Lucchesi, Lawrence Flores and Michel Sleiman, who will read poems translated into Portuguese. William Farnesi’s film "Caminho e atrás de mim caminham as estrelas" (I walk and the starts walk behind me)," featuring statements by the Arab poet, will also be screened.
The Syrian poet, who is 80 years old and currently lives in Paris, was born in the small village of Qasabin. In 1957, he founded the Chi‘r (Poesia) magazine in Beirut, Syria, which championed the renewal of Arabic poetry. He was the author of a vast body of work comprising poetry and essays that have been translated into several languages. He has also translated universal literature work into Arabic, such as Ovidius, by Saint-John Perse and Yves Bonnefoy. In Brazil, his poetry has been published on literature and art magazines.
"Adonis is the most prominent personality in Arabic poetry, and the top representative of a set of poets who have revolutionized millenary Arabic poetry, reinserting it into the universal currents of the past and contemporary times, in the fields of literature, arts and critical thinking," explains Michel Sleiman, a poet and the president of the Icarabe, in a statement issued by the organization.
Adonis was scheduled to visit Brazil this month in order to attend the VI International Literary Festival of the State of Pernambuco (Fliporto), but his trip has been postponed due to health issues.
Service
Dîwân of Adonis’ poetry
November 17th, Wednesday at 08:00 pm
07:00 pm: film screening "Caminho e atrás de mim caminham as estrelas"
Place: Casa das Rosas Hall – Haroldo de Campos Poetry and Literature Facility – Paulista Avenue, 37
Telephone: (+55 11) 3285-6986
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
