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Maher Kheir

Maher Kheir

Maher Kheir A Lebanese poet and a diplomat, he was born and bred in Tripoli, then he moved to France where he lived a period of time, studying and working in the media.

He performed numerous innovative poetry evenings that incorporated sound, light, visual imagery, and choreography. Among them, the theatres of Cairo Opera House, Toulouse, Paris, Canberra, and Sydney…

He has participated in many international Festivals, winning multiple awards. He is the first poet who filmed the poetry in a Video Clip.

High Education:

  • Master’s degree in Arabic Literature & Civilization (Michel de Montaigne University, Bordeaux, France).
  • High Diploma in French Language Teaching (Toulouse Le Mirail University, France).
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Ancient & Comparative French Literature, (Toulouse Le Mirail University, France) (undergoing).

Career:

  • Consul of Lebanon in Canberra, since 2005.
  • Consul of Lebanon in Cairo, 2002-2005.
  • Deputy Head of the permanent Mission of Lebanon to UNESCO, Paris, 2001-2002.

He has Collections of Poetry:

  • Last Dance on Canberra’s Lake, Dar Merit, Cairo, 2008.
  • The Birds of Kasr el Nile Bridge, Dar Merit, Cairo, 2008.
  • A Sun for a Blue Shirt, Dar al Jill, Cairo, 2005.
  • Naked Under the Sun, Dar al Farabi, Beirut, 1998.

Albums:
(Poetry with original music distribution):

  • Eleven Moons, Sydney, Australia, 2009.
  • The Cry of the Snow, Gebali Music, Cairo, 2005.
  • Naked Under the Sun, Lord Sound Production, Beirut, 1998.

Poems Video clips:

  • The Cry of the Snow (A Special Honorary Prize in the International Video Clip Festival, 2006).
  • Birds Will Tear Haven’s Chest (Won the Oscar Prize in the International Video Clip Festival 2004).
  • Secret Letters from Beirut, Beirut, 2000.

Short films:

  • Consul of poets (about Maher kheir’s poetic journey), Cairo,2008.
  • The Voice of Poetry ( won among 200 films at the short Films Festival of Canberra)

Publication in print:

  • What shall I do with my wings now? (poems)

 
Naked under the Sun

Back there…
where all is forbidden,
where hope is a fragment
and dreams are subservience,
I am not considering a return.

I want to run naked
under the sun,
under the sky…
I want to be bare of
clothes, people or belongings.
I want to be a horse without a saddle,
with hoofs of poetry,
never going astray.

I want to inscribe your love
on the golden sun.
I want my voice to be neighing,
not mumbling or whispering.

I want my steps
to be redolent of light.
I want my love to be a fire lily,
strings ablaze with song.

I don’t want my neighing to be words implied,
I want it to glow and strike.
I want my wings to slap the face of the wind,
cross every boundary and line,
set free every captive and
embrace all the injured.

 
Poetry in this post: © Maher Kheir
Published with the permission of Maher Kheir