Between Whispers and Artillery

    Few years before the revolution, free verse poetry was perceived in Egypt as a sign of change in the poetic atmosphere. I once heard the late Egyptian poet Hilmy Salem capture this change eloquently when he said: “While “taf’ila poetry” has the constitutional legitimacy in Egypt right now, free verse poetry enjoys the revolutionary legitimacy.” Free verse poetry generated a lot of noise back then as conferences and alternative conferences were held to discuss free verse poetry and its alternative forms. This noise was foreign to a form of poetry that has long celebrated whispering, but taking pride in whispering was weird, too.