From back cover:
"The first two essays in Poets from a War Torn World are about mysticism in modern Arabic poetry. The second two essays are about literary philosophy in modern Hebrew poetry. All four essays focus on the 1960s and 1970s, a time when poets hoped that through their writings they could help bring peace to a war torn Middle East. Reuven Snir's introduction is in clear simple language. It provides background knowledge that will assist the general reader who has no previous knowledge of specifically Arabic or Hebrew poetry. Otherwise, the introduction and essays are of interest to scholars, students and the general reader, those interested in poetry, poetics or diverse cultures. The four essays include Aviva Butt's translations of entire poems, so the book also includes a collection of poems that are enjoyable to read. The leading poets under discussion in the first three essays are Adunis (Adonis), Mahmud Darwish (Arabic poets) and Natan Zach (Hebrew poet). Rashid Husayn (Arabic poet) is also mentioned. The last essay, A Surge of Poetry, deals with the creativity of Hebrew poets Natan Zach, Yehuda Amichai, Meir Wieseltier and Asher Reich. Natan Alterman is also mentioned. Author of: Gifts from an Empty Suitcase and Other Short Stories: And Twenty Poems (2012) Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/AvivaButt"
Biography of author from http://sbpra.com/avivabutt/?page_id=24:
Although born and raised in New York City, Aviva Butt has lived all over the world, but calls Dunedin, New Zealand home. A prolific author, she has written poems, short stories, screenplays, and literary translations from Arabic and Hebrew, and also literary criticism. She is currently working on a novel. She enjoys going to the movies and listening to Indian and Middle Eastern music.
In 2014, she has stayed in the Czech Republic and hopes that a Czech producer will succeed in organizing the production of her screenplay “Blue Mist”— published in the Appendix of her book On Screenwriting and Love and Politics (SBPRA 2013).
In 2012 and 2013, she worked on a project part of which appeared in the book Baghdad: The City in Verse, translated and edited by Reuven Snir (Harvard University Press: 2013). In the Preface (p. xxx), he acknowledges her contribution in the following words:
“A special word of appreciation is due to the independent scholar and author Aviva Butt for her great help throughout the process of preparing the manuscript for publication. She read the entire manuscript several times and provided me with numerous suggestions for both the translated poems and the introduction. Her contribution to the poetical translation of the poems and to the introduction was very significant. Her dedication to the project was tremendous and arose from her strong belief in the necessity of publishing such a book.”
The overwhelming success of Baghdad: The City in Verse has opened the way for additional publications in English and Aviva has been working on similar projects since early 2014.
She is currently writing a novel tentatively titled Sanaa’s Search for Yasin, an unusual love story set in the Middle East for publication with SBPRA.
