Yahya Hassan (19 May 1995 – 29 April 2020) was a Danish poet and political activist of Palestinian descent, whose poems and public statements criticizing both Islam and Danish policies on migration and participation in armed conflicts made him a much-debated and controversial figure. His most notable work, ''Yahya Hassan'', as of 2013 was the best-selling debut poetry collection in Denmark, and has been printed in more than 120,000 copies (middle of 2015).

Early life

Yahya Hassan was born to a family of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Palestinian immigrants, who had fled to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

due to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and who moved to Denmark in the 1980s. He was born in

Aarhus V Aarhus Vest (lit.: Aarhus West) or Aarhus V, is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, consisting of Hasle, Herredsvang, Møllevangen and Frydenlund. Quarters and neighborhoods Møllevangen Built primarily in the 1940s, Møllevangen has many f ...

, a problematic immigrant district of the city of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, the second largest city in Denmark and the country's main port. He had four siblings, and his father frequently physically abused him. Hassan grew up in a religious environment, but soon abandoned religion. He was institutionalized for

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

in ''Solhaven'' in Farsø, where educators first supported his literary talent. At 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 first volume published with the reputable Gyldendal publishing house, in 2013. Literary scholar Tue Andersen Nexø described Hassan's longer works as "almost

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

-like." The volume was a best-seller and received favourable criticism, and his readings (done in an idiosyncratic style) were well-attended. The poems are concerned with his upbringing in the "ghetto" of

, 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 The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

, 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. The poetry collection ''Yahya Hassan 2'' was published on 8 November 2019, again to general critical acclaim.

Politics

On 7 April 2015, Hassan announced that he had joined the newly formed Danish political party, Nationalpartiet. On 9 February 2016, party leader Kashif Ahmad announced that Hassan had been expelled from the party following an arrest for driving under the influence.

Death

Hassan was found dead in his apartment in

on 29 April 2020. The police do not believe the death to be a criminal act. Yahya Hassan converted back to Islam prior to his death.

Bibliography

* ''Et godt sted at dø'' ("a good place to die"), Brønderslev Forfatterskole, 2011, * ''Yahya Hassan : Digte'', Gyldendal, 2013, *''Yahya Hassan 2'', Gyldendal, 2019,

References

External links

Poems of Rage. A video interview with Yahya Hassan
Video by

Louisiana Channel Louisiana Channel is a non-profit web-TV channel based at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark. By the end of the first year, 28 November 2013, Louisiana Channel had published 130 videos featuring international artists, film m ...

Three Poems by Yahya Hassan
English Translations on Action Books
Yahya Hassan bio
with English Translations in Poetry (magazine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Yahya 1995 births 2020 deaths 21st-century Danish male writers 21st-century Danish poets Danish male poets Danish people of Palestinian descent Former Muslim critics of Islam Former Muslims turned agnostics or atheists Danish critics of Islam People from Aarhus