Occupation Writer, Politician Name Yahya Hassan Nationality Danish Role Poet | Books Yahya Hassan Notable works “Yahya Hassan” | |
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Yahya hassan poems of rage
Yahya Hassan (born 19 May 1995) is a Danish poet and politician of Palestinian descent, notable for his criticism of Islam, which attracted attention and stirred debate about Islam's place in Denmark.
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His most notable work, Yahya Hassan, as of 2013 was the best-selling debut poetry collection in Denmark, and was printed in more than 100,000 copies.
On April 7, 2015, Hassan announced that he had joined the Danish political party, Nationalpartiet.
On February 9, 2016, leader of Nationalpartiet Kashif Ahmad announced that Hassan was forced to leave the party, after being arrested for driving under the influence of illegal drugs
Yahya Hassan, Suma de Letras
Early life
Yahya Hassan was born to a family of Muslim Palestinian immigrants, who had fled to Lebanon due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and who moved to Denmark in the 1980s. He was born in Aarhus V, a problematic immigrant district of the city of Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark and the country's main port. There Yahya grew up in a religious environment, but soon abandoned religion. He was institutionalised for juvenile delinquency in Solhaven in Farsø, where educators supported his literary talent. Then aged 16, Hassan had an affair with 38-year-old educator Louise Østergaard, which led to Østergaard's dismissal and divorce. Hassan attended a "Rap Academy" and various workshops for creative writing.
Publications and reception
He published a first volume with Brønderslev Forfatterskole Et godt sted at dø ("a good place to die") in 2011, but became widely known in Denmark with his Islam-critical volume published with the reputable Gyldendal publishing house, in 2013.
Literary scholar Tue Andersen Nexø described Hassan's longer works as "almost Walt Whitman-like." The volume was a best-seller and received favourable criticism, and his readings (done in an idiosyncratic style) are well-attended.
The poems are concerned with his upbringing in the "ghetto" of Aarhus V, with attacks on his parents' generation and on Islam. This has resulted in criticism and death threats on the part of Danish Muslims, and Hassan was placed under police protection. Odense city library cancelled a planned reading due to the threat of attacks. The cancellation led to a parliamentary debate in the Folketing, on Islamist threats impinging on the freedom of speech in Denmark.
Also in November 2013, Hassan was assaulted and injured by another Danish citizen of Palestinian descent, one Isaac Meyer, born Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, who had a previous conviction for terrorism. Meyer had received a seven-year sentence in the 2005 Glostrup Terrorists Case, but had been released on parole in 2010. The attacker was convicted for assault.