John Asfour (born in 1945 in Aitaneat, Lebanon) died on November 2, 2014 in Montreal General Hospital. He was the author of five volumes of poetry in English, the most recent of which, Blindfold, (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011) concerned his experience being blinded by a grenade in his native Lebanon at the age of 13. Three of his books have been translated into Arabic and one to French. He was the editor and translator of the landmark anthology, When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry (Cormorant Books, 1988, 1992, Maxville, Canada) and American University 1992, Cairo, Egypt as well as the University of Ankara 1994 which was short listed for the Canadian League of Poets Award. He co-authored with Alison Burch a volume of selected poems by Muhammad al-Maghut entitled Joy is Not My Profession, (Vehicule Press, 1994, Montreal Canada), shortlisted for the John Glasgow award, and his third book of poetry, One Fish from the Rooftop, (Cormorant Press, 1992, Maxville, Canada) was the recipient of the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize. His fourth book, Fields of My Blood, (Empyrial Press, 1997, Montreal Canada) received the Canada Council for the Arts Joseph Staufford award.

Dr. Asfour published two more books: Vancouver V6A: an anthology of Writings from the Downtown Eastside, (2012 Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, Canada) and Metamorphosis of Ishtar by Nadine Ltaif, translated from the French (2011 Guernica Editions, Toronto, Canada). He was a former professor of literature residing in Montreal, Canada.

QWF Literary Database of Quebec authors : John Asfour

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