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Damascus (dpa) - Syrian poet and playwright Mohammed al-Maghout died Monday of a brain clot at his home in Damascus aged 72, SANA news agency reported.
Al-Maghout, a prominent pioneer of what is known as "free poetry" in Syria, introduced changes to both the method and content of Arabic poetry.
His work dealt with everyday problems and national causes. During his lifetime, he penned many dramas and poems and last year won the Sultan bin Ali al-Oweis Culture Establishment poetry prize in Dubai. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad awarded him the efficiency decoration in 2005.
Al-Maghout, who was born in Salamieh, 220 kilometres north of Damascus, studied in his hometown and in Hama.
He began working as a journalist at al-Shourtah police magazine and also wrote for the daily Tishreen when it first started. He later wrote for the al-Mustakbal newspaper.
Hanna Abboud, another Syrian poet, described him as,"the pen of rejections and disobedience - the pen of publicizing love and rejection of hatred. He dealt with people's sufferings and addicted isolation."
His greatest works include Sadness in the Moonlight 1959-1960, A Chamber with a Billion Walls 1964, Happiness is not my profession 1970, From the Complete Works Theatre and Poet 1973, The Hunch Bird 1964 and The Swing 1974.
Some of his writings were translated into other languages and in 2006 he published poetry texts under the title Red Bedouin.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
