Egypt's most prominent poet Ahmed Shahawy will participate in the second edition of the Mexico international Poetry Festival to be held Nov. 26-29. The globally well-known Shahawy says it will be his initial appearance in the festival although he is used to attending poetry festivals in other Latin American countries since 2006. Among the poems he will read come That is my Grave, My Heart fried in a Rusted Pan, Tyrant Jailed in His Shade, I am Error of Linguists, I am Washed with Gold, Lonely I walk to Shade, among others, all of them translated into Spanish by Dr. Abeer Abdel Hafez, Professor of Spanish literature, Cairo University. The 55-year old laureate of the UNESCO Literature Prize in 1995 and the Kavafy Poetry Prize in 1998 has been participating in several poetry festivals across the world, mostly in Spain, Canada, the U.S., Macedonia, IndiaTurkey, the Netherlands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemalan, Salvador, Ecuador and Argentina. Shahawy, whose poems have been translated into numerous languages, has published five poetry books in Spanish in Madrid, San Jose, Costa Rica and Ecuador. A total of 52 international poets at top of them come the Spanish Luis García Montero, the U.S. Yusef Komunyakaa and the Cuban Victor Rodrigues. The participants will read their poetry in public squares and cultural centers in the capital Mexico City as a bid to assure poetry will remain the shield against death, destruction and all forms of life pleasures such as wealth and power, Shahawy says.
