Salma Khadra Jayyusi, one of the Arab world's most distinguished literary personalities, is widely known for her poetry, literary criticism, and scholarship. She is author of the two-volume critical history Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poetry and editor of Literature of Modern Arabia, as well as Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology and Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology for Columbia University Press.

"This massive, well-edited, translated, and researched volume is a living monument to the culture of a nation, now represented in English for the first time with remarkable results in coverage, accuracy, and authenticity.Far from a folkloric or exotic record, this anthology admits the Palestinian contribution to world culture at an eminent pace." -- Edward Said