The Paris-based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been selected for the prestigious Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry. The award is presented by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association in memory of the distinguished Malayalam poet. The Kumaran Asan prize comprises a prize amount of 3 lakh rupees. It will be presented to Adonis on May 3 at a function at Kayikkara.

Adonis has been regularly nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature since 1988. He has authored more than twenty volumes of poetry in Arabic and widely translated into almost all languages. Adonis was born in Western Syria in 1930. He was imprisoned for his secular and nationalistic positions. He has been living in Paris since 1985.

Adonis’ popular works include

1. If Only the Sea Could Sleep
2. Pages of Day and Night
3. Songs of Mihyar the Damascene
4. Not A Star
5. A Voice
6. A King is Miyhar
7. The Adoring Rock
8. Take me to God.

Tidbits

1. The Arab Poet Adonis or Adunis is considered as the greatest living poet of the Arab world.
2. He was conferred with Bjornson Prize in 2007, Goethe Prize in 2011 and Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize in 2014.
3. Adonis is his pen name. His original name is Ali Ahmad Said Esber.
4. He received a degree in Philosophy from Syrian University in 1954.