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Contributor

Rebecca C. Johnson

Contributor

Rebecca C. Johnson

Rebecca C. Johnson is a scholar of comparative literature with a specialization in modern Arabic literature and literary culture.

Articles by Rebecca C. Johnson

The Scent of Berries

Or do we all, Baghdad, / belong to the executioner?

Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson

Reader in the Dark

That the book that you were reading at your chair / is now opened again in the darkness

Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson

New Year

By Nazik al-Mala’ika

New Year, move on. There is the path / to lead your footsteps.

Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson

2023-February-Love-Song-for-Words-Al-Malaika-Johnson-Feature

Valentine Puzzle Purse, Anonymous, British or American, 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mrs. Richard Riddell, 1981.

Love Song for Words

By Nazik al-Mala’ika

Why do we fear words? / If their thorns have once wounded us, / then they have also wrapped their arms around our necks / and shed their sweet scent upon our desires.

Translated from Arabic by Rebecca C. Johnson