Lebanese poet, journalist and translator Ounsi el-Hajj would have turned 79 today, and Google is reminding us all of his incredible work.
Hailing from Kaitouli, Jezzine, El-Hajj started his professional career in journalism in 1956, where he was the director of the cultural page at Al-Hayat newspapers. He later moved to An-Nahar newspaper, where he was also responsible for nonpolitical content. A few years later in 1964, he founded Al-Mulhaq, a poetry magazine, a supplement cultural publication for An-Nahar.
El-Hajj really got into the poetry field when he contributed with Yusuf Al-Khal and Ali Ahmad Sad Esbar Adunis and founded the poetry magazine, Majallat Shi'r.
In 1960, El-Hajj released his first book of poetry entitled Lan, the first compilation of Arabic prose poetry!
In 1963, El-Hajj began translating several plays by Shakespeare, lonesco, Camus and Brecht into Arabic.
The translated works were later performed on stage by the Beirut School of Modern Theater during the Baalbeck Festival, under the director of Nidal Al Ashkar, Roger Assaf, and Berge Vaslian.
El-Hajj published numerous works of poetry between 1960 and 1994 which were translated into multiple languages including English, French, German, Italian and more.
The works included six compilations of his poetry including Lan, The Chopped Head, The Past of Forthcoming Days, What Have You Made with the Gold What Have You Done with the Rose, The Messenger with Her Hair Long Until the Sources, and The Banquet.
He also published a book of three volumes and two volumes of philosophical works entitled Khawatem.
Ounsi died on February 18, 2014, after an extended illness.