John Mikhail Asfour

Born in Lebanon, John Mikhail Asfour was the author of five volumes of poetry in English, including Blindfold, which spoke of his experience being blinded by a grenade in his native Lebanon at the age of 13. He was the editor and translator of the landmark anthology, When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, as well as co-author with Alison Burch of selected poems by Muhammad al-Maghut entitled Joy is Not My Profession. Asfour died on November 2, 2014 while his latest translation, Mirrors of Absence, was being edited.