Book Club: Philip Terman and Translations of the Poetry of Riad Saleh Hussein and Nasser Rabah

At the 2025 Yetzirah Poetry Conference, Philip Terman presented a moving and inspiring session on his translations of Syrian poet Riad Saleh Hussein and Gazan poet Nasser Rabah. During this session, Terman will discuss some of the work by each of these poets along with some of his own work. Poems that may be discussed will be sent to registered participants one week in advance of the session. For those who are interested, books by Hussein, Rabah, and Terman can be purchased through Yetzirah’s Bookshop List.

Riad Saleh Hussein (1954-1982) was a Syrian poet from Aleppo province. He was mute, worked in Cinema Life Magazine in Damascus, later for the Tishreen Daily until his death after a brief arrest for unspecified reasons. He published three collections of prose poetry; the fourth appeared after his death. A complete edition of his works was published in Baghdad, edited by Emad Najjar. He was considered a pioneer of prose poetry in which you can detect elements from Yves Bonnefoy and Jacques Prevert. He is a symbol of the Beat Generation who continued to revolutionize prose poetry in Arabic in the post-Adonis era. His first book translated into English by Saleh Razzouk with Philip Terman, Tango Below a Narrow Ceiling, was published by Bitter Oleander Press in 2021.

Nasser Rabah was born in Gaza in 1963. He got his BA in agricultural science in 1985 and worked as director of the communication department in the Agriculture Ministry. He is a member of the Palestinian Writers and Authors Union and has published five collections of poetry and two novels. He lives in Gaza. A selection of his poems translated into English, Gaza: The Poem Said Its Piece, was published by City Lights Books in 2025.

Philip Terman’s books include The Whole Mishpocha (Ben Yehuda Press, 2024), My Blossoming Everything (Saddle Road Press, 2024)) and, as co-translator, Tango Beneath a Narrow Ceiling: The Selected Poems of Riad Saleh Hussein (Bitter Oleander, 2021). He directs The Bridge Literary Arts Center, a regional writers’ organization in western, PA. Terman conducts poetry workshops and coaches writing hither and yon. He’s collaborated with composers, visual artists, and performs his poetry with the jazz band Catro.