Poetry & Poets in Rags of December 4

[rus bowden]

Dear Poetry Aficionados,

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog

Qatari poet Mohammed al-Ajami, a.k.a. Ibn al-Dhib, has been sentenced to life in prison for writing a poem in favor of Arab freedom. Before being sentenced, he was subjected to a year in jail, mostly in solitary, followed by a sham trial.

Here again, in this day and age, we have the case of a poet, who most certainly should be free, being jailed by people who the world would do better to have in prison, including Hamad bin Khalifa al-Than, the dictator of Qatar. Apparently now a wolf in sheep's clothing, he's had a year to free al-Ajami, and has allowed this shameful mistreatment of a fellow human being to go on and on.

We link to many more stories than this is a full week of poetry in the news, including Christmas gift suggestions on the Back Page, reviews of current poetry books, looks at recently awarded poets, and some fine poetry, especially in our Great Regulars section.

Thanks for clicking in.

Yours,

Rus

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