Haider Mahmoud

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Haider Mahmoud (Arabic :حيدر محمود) is a poet from Jordan. He was born in Haifa in 1942. His family fled their home in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. He studied in Amman before pursuing his higher education in the UK and the US.

Haider Mahmoud

Mahmoud worked in journalism and the media, he was also Jordan's Ambassador to Tunisia, and he later held the culture portfolio in the Jordanian government.

A poem he wrote in 1989 about the social injustices facing ordinary citizens was one of the triggers of the civil unrest that took several Jordanian cities. He demanded the resignation of the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Zeid Al Rifai, who ordered the sacking and imprisonment of Mahmoud, who held the position of Advisor to the Prime Minister at the time. Mahmoud was later released by direct order from King Hussein who also sacked his Prime Minister.

Mahmoud's works have been published in Spanish, French and Serbian, and his works are taught in the Jordanian curriculum. He was granted an honorary doctorate from the World Academy for Culture and Arts in the Republic of China in 1986.

Mahmoud was granted several Arab and international awards and medals, including the King Abdullah II Award for Innovation in the Field of Literature (Jordan, 2004), Al-Istiklal Medal of First Order (Jordan, 1991), Medal of the Republic of the Supreme Order (Tunisia, 1999), Ibn-Khafaja Award for Poetry (Spain, 1986).

He currently writes a weekly column in the Jordanian newspaper Al Rai.