It’s with a heavy heart to announce the passing of Ghassan Alameddine. Lebanon lost a true literary icon due to a fatal and sudden heart attack.
A poet, a musician, and a journalist born in Lebanon, Ghassan Alameddine has just left us at the age of 53 when he was still contributing his uniqueness to the world. He leaves us, though, with a numerous amount of creative arts, allowing us to continue cherishing his literary work for the ages to come.
Alameddine emigrated to Australia at the age of 12 in the 70s due to our raging civil war. However, it is in Beirut that his first book was published in 1999, showcasing his brilliant work in what translates into “A Thread of Whiteness” or “A White Line”, a book that became of one of his most iconic pieces.
That gem of literary work was soon followed by I think They Died Thirsty, The Magician’s Folded Handkerchief, and When Butterflies Smashed into The Window Pane; all which have been published in English and Arabic. He went on publishing countless others, including hundreds of Arabic articles and research papers, among which politicals.
A prominent participant of multiple international poetry festivals, Alammedine was also a skilled musician. He was a holder of a Ph.D. in music and culture, which had enabled him to educate students in his field, compose songs, and play his musical creations in theaters in the Middle-East and Australia.
Alameddine is one of these Lebanese natives who walked their lives with a purpose, contributing to the world, prospering beyond the borders, and leaving a legacy.
We certainly lost an icon with his departure but his intellectual creativity remains among us forever, so shall be his name.
