Rifqa (book)

Rifqa
Book cover of Rifqa
AuthorMohammed el-Kurd
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
PublisherHaymarket Books
Publication date
12 October 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Pages100
ISBN978-1-64259-586-4

Rifqa is a 2021 poetry collection by Palestinian writer and poet Mohammed el-Kurd, published by Haymarket Books.[1] The book includes a foreword by Aja Monet.[1] Named for el-Kurd's grandmother Rifqa El-Kurd, the collection addresses family memory, dispossession, and political life in Sheikh Jarrah and East Jerusalem.[2][3]

The collection was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection at the 2022 Forward Prizes for Poetry.[4][5]

Reception

In the Los Angeles Review of Books, Summer Farah wrote that Rifqa explores "the ways colonialism alters our navigation of time and space".[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Rifqa". Haymarket Books. Haymarket Books. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  2. ^ Bajwa, Nameera (Winter 2024). "On Rifqa by Mohammed el-Kurd". The Poetry Project. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  3. ^ Bhutto, Fatima (7 November 2021). "Mohammed El-Kurd: Palestinian poet distils lessons from injustice". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlist 2022". The Poetry Society. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Mort, El-Kurd and Pollard make Forward Prizes for Poetry shortlists". The Bookseller. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  6. ^ Farah, Summer (4 December 2021). ""I Write an Attempt": On Mohammed El-Kurd's Rifqa". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 5 March 2026.