John Asfour Explained

John Mikhail Asfour
Birth Date:	1945
Birth Place:	Aitanite, Lebanon
Death Date:	November 2014
Death Place:	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation:	Poet, writer, teacher, translator, activist

John Asfour (Arabic: جون عصفور) was a Lebanese–Canadian poet, writer, and teacher. At the age of 13, a grenade exploded in his face, blinding him during the Lebanese crisis of 1958.^{[1] [2]}

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to restore his sight, he moved to Canada in 1968.^[3] After receiving his PhD in poetry from McGill University, he spent his career as a professor of literature and resided in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.^[4]

He was the author of 5 volumes of poetry in English, and two in Arabic, he selected, edited and translated into English the landmark anthology When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry and co-authored with his wife and fellow author Alison Burch a volume of selected poems by Muhammad al-Maghut entitled Joy is not my Profession. Asfour was known for his readings and lectures, which were entirely memorized due to his lack of sight.^[5]

Asfour was President of the Canadian Arab Federation from 1996 to 2002, and spoke out against revisions to the anti-terrorism bill C-36 after the September 11 attacks. In 2005 and 2007, he organized and held two conferences on Arab Immigrants, their rights and duties for the Ministry of Immigration of Quebec.

Awards

• F.G. Bressani Literary Prize
• Canada Council for the Arts Joseph Staford Award,
• 2009: Inaugural Writer-in-Residence, Historic Joy Kogawa House, Vancouver B.C.^[6]
• 2001–2004: Chair of the Advisory Committee on Arab and Moslem Affairs for the Ministry of Canadian Multiculturalism
• 1996–2002: President of the Canadian Arab Federation

Publications

John Asfour Publications include:

Books

French

• 2014: Les Yeux Bandés par John Asfour traduit par Jean-Pierre Pelletier, éditions Le Noroît, 95 pp.
• 2009: Nisan: poésie par John Asfour traduit par Nadine Ltaif éditions Le Noroît, 103 pp.

English

• 2016: Faraj Bayrakdar. Mirrors of Absence, Guernica, 2015
• 2012: V6A: Writing from Vancouver's Downtown EastsideEdited by: John Mikhail Asfour and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, foreword by Gary Geddes Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, B.C.
• 2011: Blindfold
• 2009: Thursdays 2: Writings from the Carnegie Centre Edited by: Elee Kraljii Gardiner and John Mikhail Asfour, Otter Press, Vancouver, B.C.
• 1997: Fields of My Blood (poetry), Emperyal Press, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 1994: Joy is Not My Profession: Selected Poems of Muhammad al-Maghut, trans. and introd. Co-author A. Burch, Véhicule Press, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 1994 and 1995: Corridors: A Concordia Anthology (poetry & fiction), Assoc. Editor. Downtown Press, Montreal.
• 1992: One Fish From the Rooftop (poetry), Cormorant Books, Maxville, Canada. winner of the 1994 F.G. Bressani Literary Prize (Vancouver, B.C.). Trans. into Arabic as Samakah min ala al-sath (see below)
• 1988, 1992: When The Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, & 1993, 1995, 1945 – 1987, selected, translated into English and introd., Cormorant Books, Maxville, Canada. Second ed., 1992.
• Short-listed for the League of Poets Award (1990) and the John Glassco Award for Translation (1990)
• Published for distribution in the Middle East by American Univ. in Cairo Press, Cairo, Egypt (1993), and by Inforium Press, Ankara, Turkey (1995)
• 1981:Land of Flowers and Guns (poetry), introd. Louis Dudek, D.C. Books, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Trans. into Arabic as Wurud wa-banadiq (see below)
• 1976: N an: A Book of Poetry, Fiddlehead Books, Univ. of New Brunswick Press, Fredericton, Canada

Arabic

• 2000: Wurud wa-banadiq (Flowers and Guns; trans. from English to Arabic). Author & trans. Co-translator Hatim Salman. Bisan Press, Beirut and Damascus.
• 2000: Samakah min ala al-sath (One Fish from the Rooftop; trans. from English to Arabic). Author & trans. Co-translator Abd al-Hakim Ajhar. Bisan Press, Beirut and Damascus.
• 2002: Hariq al-Kalimat (When the Words Burn; trans. from English to Arabic). Trans. Mona Fadel. Amwaj Press, Beirut and Damascus.

Articles

English

• 2008: Saadi Youssef: a poet in exile, The Montreal Gazette, Montreal Canada
• 2005: Muhammad al-Maghut: the voice of the voiceless, The Montreal Gazette, Montreal Canada
• 1993: Entry for "Muhammad al-Maghut" in the Encyclopedia of World Literature in the Twentieth Century, New York (The Continuum Publishing Company), Vol. V., pp. 402–03. Ed. Steven Serafin & Walter Glanze
• 1989: "Adonis and Muhammad al Maghut: Two Voices in a Burning Land," Journal of Arabic Literature, Glasgow, Scotland, Vol. XX, pp. 10–30.
• 1989: "Muhammad al Maghut and the Surplus Man," Edebiyat, (Univ. of Penn.), New Series Vol. I, No. 2, pp. 23–40. Co-author A. Burch

Poems & Translations: (English)

• 1987 ff.: Poems and translations in:
• North American periodicals—e.g., PRISM international, Zymergy, Mizna, Parnassus, Chelsea, Absynthe
• Newspapers—e.g., The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The Ottawa Citizen, the Gazette
• Anthologies—e.g., The Signal Anthology, Montreal (Véhicule Press, 1993); TransLit Calgary (ATIA, 1994)
• Literary broadcasts—radio (BBC, CJAD, CJFM) and television (CF Cable, CBC)

External links

• Author's web site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Other Programs | Christianne Hayward . 2010-02-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100209074622/http://www.christiannehayward.com/qs/page/11468/8122/-1 . February 9, 2010 . mdy-all .
2. Web site: Montreal Gazette: Poetic voices from near and far – Different traditions, styles and themes are on display . October 4, 2018 . April 30, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200430024543/https://montrealgazette.com/news/Poetic+voices+from+near/4663356/story.html/ . dead .
3. Web site: Ryerson Library - Asian Heritage in Canada - Authors - John Asfour . 2010-02-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110514105808/http://www.ryerson.ca/library/events/asian_heritage/asfour.html . May 14, 2011 . mdy-all .
4. Web site: Editing Workshop with John Asfour and Elee Kraljii Gardiner . Thursdays Writing Collective . en . 2009-06-14.
5. Web site: Farewell to Montreal poet John Asfour . montrealgazette.com . en-CA.
6. Web site: Writer-in-residence Dr. John Asfour co-edits poems and prose from the Downtown Eastside | Welcome to Historic Joy Kogawa House . 2010-02-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100505172307/http://www.kogawahouse.com/node/179 . May 5, 2010 . mdy-all .