Najwan Darwish

Najwan Darwish is a poet from Jerusalem, Palestine. He has published eight poetry books in Arabic and his work has been translated into over twenty languages. New York Review Books, which published the English translation of his books "Nothing More to Lose" and "Exhausted on the Cross" describes him as 'one of the foremost Arabic-language poets.'

"Nothing More to Lose" (translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid) was named one of the best books of 2014 by National Public Radio NPR (U.S.) and has been nominated for several awards including the Best Translated Book Award in 2015. The same year, Darwish was the recipient of the DJS-Poetry East West Award in China. "Exhausted on the Cross" (translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid) shortlisted to the 2022 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, The National Translation Awards, Derek Walcott Prize and is the winner of The Sarah Maguire Prize. In 2020, a bilingual selection of his poems, "Embrace," was published by the Poetry Translation Center in London which has received the English PEN Translates Award.

Darwish has co-founded and directed several cultural and artistic projects throughout the Arab world and served as the literary advisor to the Palestine Festival of Literature. He has held many key positions in cultural journalism and has been the Chief Cultural Editor of the Arabic-language London-based newspaper Al Araby Al Jadeed since 2014.