Kahlil Gibran

Born in Bsharri, in present-day Lebanon, in 1883, he emigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings while still young and grew up partly in Boston. He wrote in both Arabic and English, and his work moved easily between poetry, parables, essays, and drawing and painting.

His best-known book, The Prophet (1923), helped make him one of the most widely read literary voices of the twentieth century. Readers have long been drawn to the calm, direct way he writes about love, marriage, work, sorrow, joy, and the inner life.

Gibran was also a serious visual artist, and that blend of image and language shaped the dreamlike quality of his writing. He died in 1931, but his work has remained remarkably durable, speaking to people who want wisdom that feels intimate rather than formal.