Munir Akash
Visiting Professor
Department of World Languages and Cultural Studies
Phone: 617-557-2008
Fax: 617-367-5965
Email: makash@suffolk.edu
Office: Fenton Building, Rm. 426
Education
- MA, Beirut Arab University
- Bachelor of Law, Aleppo University
Biography
In Fall 2006, Munir Akash moved from the University of Connecticut/Storrs to join the department and initiate the Arabic Program. Raised and educated in Syria and Lebanon, Munir is the author, translator, and editor of 23 books in Arabic and English. These include Questions in Poetry (Beirut, 1979), The Right to Sacrifice the Other (Beirut, 2002), The Idea of America (Morocco, 2003), The Open Veins of Jerusalem (2nd edition, Syracuse University Press, 2005), The English Curse of Canaan (Beirut 2009), and The State of Siege (trans, Syracuse University Press 2010). His translation of Unfortunately, It Was Paradise (University of California Press, 2004) was a finalist for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. The American Conceptual artist Jenny Holzer projected Munir's translation of Darwish in many cities of the world, including New York, San Francisco, Rome, London, Vienna, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro. In addition, Professor Akash is the founding editor of Jusoor (Bridges), an intercultural journal in book form, co-published and distributed by Syracuse University Press. He has been interviewed, quoted, and reviewed by many books, journals and radio and TV satellites, including Encyclopaedia Britannica, The New Yorker, BBC, Voice of America, Al-Jazeera TV, New TV, World TV, Indiana Review, Parnassus, Fence, Tikkun, The Nation, The American Poetry Review, Poets, Poetry Foundation, The Guardian (London) and MELA Notes. In May 1983, Mario Zagari, Vice President of the European Parliament at the time, distinguished Professor Akash with the Targa Europa Award (Decoration of Europe) for his works and his active role in the dialogue of civilizations.
