Translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah

ABOUT THE BOOK

Amjad Nasser's masterful syncopated lyrical prose brings to life the once-lost city of Petra, unknown to the Western world until 1812 when it was rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Fady Joudah provides a powerful translation of this contemporary Jordanian epic, which doubles as travel guide to one of the world's wonders. In Petra: the Concealed Rose, we move between love and death, history and myth, Orientalism and Feminism, representation and presence until we are face-to-face with this marvel, able to feel its textures, breathe its air, and smell its scents. This is a timeless work of art where “symmetry repeats / But dimensions vary,” and Nasser embodies the rocky desert rose to its perfect imperfection. 

26 copies have been hand-bound into cloth-covered boards. See Special Editions page for ordering information.

REVIEWS

Petra: The Concealed Rose by Amjad Nasser, by Issa J. Boullata (World Literature Today)

2014: Year of the Arabic Poem (In Translation), Arab Literature and Translation

ABOUT AMJAD NASSER

Amjad Nasser was born in Jordan in 1955. He is a leading figure in Arabic letters. His works have been translated into several languages. He has published nine poetry collections, four lyric travel memoirs, and one novel, Land of No Rain. He has worked in journalism throughout his career.

ABOUT FADY JOUDAH

Fady Joudah received the Yale Series for Younger Poets prize, the Griffin International Poetry prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors for his poetry and translation.

32 pages | hand-sewn chapbook | 5.5 x 7.5 in.
ISBN-13: 978-1-935635-40-6