It is interesting to read poems by Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who was awarded the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2023. The Derek Walcott Prize is an international award presented by Arrowsmith Press and this year was selected by the adjudicator, St Lucian writer Canisia Lubrin, earned by Mosab on the strength of his collection Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear (City Lights Books, 2022).
As it turns out, this year’s prize winner has become an extremely significant poet in the context of world poetry at the present time. His prominence was escalated by his Palestinian nationality and identity and the fact that he was recently resident in Gaza. His most recent poems have reflected the terrified existence in Gaza under the barrage of Israeli bombings, and he became directly embroiled in the conflict.
