The lyrical subject in this book intends to speak “of wings,” as it declares in the poem Zur Eröffnung (An Opening)—removed from its body, the subject attains an overview of its own observations. Abdalrahman Alqalaq’s poetry and prose sometimes have a bitter tone, dealing with war, flight, and life in exile, but they also aim to preserve the tender moments. They trace the old homeland, the distance that has accumulated between that home and the self, they explore the new homeland, and they remember friends. Life in exile appears as life in an intermediate realm, examined in echoing images, sometimes subtly, sometimes fiercely, but always with great intensity.

Absentes nimmt Form an
Meine Wohnung tut nur eines: sie erinnert mich an Dinge, 
die nicht da sind 
Die Wände, die Treppe
die Fenstergriffe, Türklinken, Möbelkanten
das leere Sofa
gebrochene Schatten auf einem Tisch mit zwei Stühlen
Alles verweist auf Fehlendes 
und will mich in den Wahnsinn treiben
Irgendwann nimmt das Absente Form an
und man spricht zu ihm und wettet:
Wer von uns ist präsenter in dieser Wohnung?

Abdalrahman Alqalaq, born in 1997 in Alyarmouk, a refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, is a Palestinian writer, poet, and performer. He is currently a student of cultural studies and aesthetic practice, with a focus on theater and literature, and of international cultural politics at the University of Hildesheim and at Université Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. In 2022, his first volume of poetry, vierundzwanzig, was published in Arabic in Cairo. Some of his writing has also been published in Weiter Schreiben magazine. 

Presented in German and Arabic
Featuring a musical performance by Barenboim-Said Akademie student Shai Lustig