In August 2018, as London hosted both the premiere of a new Gibran musical and an exhibition of Middle Eastern art inspired by his writings, journalist Nick Leech asked a question that is as relevant today as it was then: why do the words of a Lebanese poet who died in 1931 continue to speak so powerfully to the world?
By Nick Leech, The National · Republished by the Kahlil Gibran Collective · August 2018
The Prophet in translation — a testament to Gibran's enduring global reach.
This week and next sees separate events in London celebrating the life and work of one of Lebanon's most famous sons, Kahlil Gibran — an artist and author whose enduring reputation rests on his most famous work, The Prophet. The book of lyrical spiritual guidance has earned Gibran a global following since it was first published in 1923.
Ninety-five years later, Gibran's influence continues to hold sway. A new theatrical musical had just received its premiere at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket — Broken Wings, a tragic tale of migration, dislocation, and thwarted love, based on his 1912 Arabic novel of the same name. And at Sotheby's Mayfair galleries, the exhibition Kahlil Gibran: A Guide for Our Times brought together works by 38 artists from across the Middle East, each responding in some way to Gibran's writings.
Nick Leech's article for The National — one of the most thoughtful assessments of Gibran's legacy published in recent years — explores the tension between his extraordinary popular reach and his uneasy relationship with the literary establishment. It traces his journey from the slums of Boston's South End to the Greenwich Village studio he called The Hermitage, and asks what it is about his vision of love, peace, and spiritual freedom that continues to resonate so deeply — in London and Beirut, in the Middle East and the West, nearly a century after his death.
It is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered why The Prophet has never gone out of print.
Read the full article at The National: Lebanon's Most Famous Son: Why Kahlil Gibran's Words Are Still Prophetic Today — Nick Leech
Article © Nick Leech / The National, August 2018. Republished by the Kahlil Gibran Collective with acknowledgement to the author and publication.
