Yahya Hassan 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.
Early life
Yahya Hassan was born to a family of Muslim Palestinian immigrants, who had fled to Lebanon due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and who moved to Denmark in the 1980s. He was born in Aarhus V, a problematic immigrant district of the city ofAarhus, the second largest city in Denmark and the country's main port. There Yahya grew up in a religious environment, but soon abandoned religion. He was institutionalised for juvenile delinquency in Solhaven in Farsø, where educators supported his literary talent. Then aged 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 in 2011, but became widely known in Denmark with his first volume published with the reputable Gyldendalpublishing house, in 2013. Literary scholar Tue Andersen Nexø described Hassan's longer works as "almost Walt Whitman-like." The volume was a best-seller and received favourable criticism, and his readings were well-attended. The poems are concerned with his upbringing in the "ghetto" of Aarhus V, 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. Odensecity library cancelled a planned reading due to the threat of attacks. The cancellation led to a parliamentary debate in the Folketing, 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.
