DOCSLIB.ORG

Travel, Relationality and Privilege in Palestinian American Poetry

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Travel, Relationality and Privilege in Palestinian American Poetry Travel, Relationality and Privilege in Palestinian American Poetry Hind El Hajj, Sirène Harb Mashriq & Mahjar: Journal of Middle East and North African Migration Studies, Volume 3, Number 2, 2016, (Article) Published by Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/778432/summary [ Access provided at 26 Sep 2021 01:11 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] Mashriq & Mahjar 3, no. 2 (2016),62-87 ISSN 2169-4435 Hind El Hajj and Sirene Harb TRAVEL, RELATIONALITY AND PRIVILEGE IN PALESTINIAN AMERICAN POETRY Abstract Negotiating location, identity, and class, the poetry of Palestinian American writers Nathalie Handal and Naomi Shihab Nye projects relational models of travel to fashion forms of resistance to colonialism, imperialism, and systemic violence. As such, the poets' travel experiences mediate a revaluation of identity away from discourses of essentialism and in terms of struggle. On a first level, the depiction of travel reflects an agential literary practice in its elaboration of a poetics of relationality with colonized communities. This poetics challenges hegemoniC modes of being and compartmentalization informing mainstream politics and narratives of modernity and progress. Travel also functions on a different level: it serves as a vehicle to complicate modes of relationality and problematize their interaction with class and privilege. This representational gesture tests the limits of coalitional practices and emphasizes the importance of examining issues of privilege as they relate to cross-ethnic relations. INTRODUCTION The poems of Palestinian American Nathalie Handal and Naomi Shihab Nye negotiate problems associated with the conflation of community with space and location, identity with kinship. Their travel experiences and encounters allow a revaluation of identity, which breaks from discourses of essentialism and reframes identity in terms of struggle and resistance. This article argues that, through travel and political comparativity, the articulation of personal and collective identities becomes a never-ending journey and an act of Hind El Hajj is a lecturer at Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, KSA; email: [email protected] Sirene Harb is an Associate Professor at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon; email: [email protected] © Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies 2016 Travel, Relationality and Privilege 63 resistance against racism, colonial regimes, and imperial and interstate violence. The travel trope functions in a twofold mode in the poetic works at hand. On the first level, the depiction of travel reflects an agential literary practice in its elaboration of a poetics of relationality between colonized communities. This poetics challenges the hegemonic modes of being and compartmentalization, which inform Western mainstream politics and narratives of modernity and progress. Handal and Nye's poetry, in this respect, shares this agential contestation with the literary production of a number of Arab American poets such as Suheir Hammad and David Williams. Travel, however, functions on a second level in the works discussed; it serves as a vehicle through which readers are pushed to interrogate modes of relationality to problematize their interaction with class and privilege. This representational gesture, which adds a significant layer of complexity to the poems discussed, tests the limits of coalition building and emphasizes the importance of examining issues of privilege as they relate to cross-ethnic relations. Through this strategy, the depiction of travel in Handa!'s and Nye's poetry is uniquely positioned to examine what Doreen Massey terms the "geography of social relations;" this focus sheds light, as she explains, on ways in which "[ e J conomic, political and cultural social relations, each full of power and with internal structures of domination and subordination, [arel stretched out over the planet at every different level."! This article looks at two collections by Nye, Words Under the Words, published in 1995, and 19 Varieties of Gazelle, published in 2002, and one collection by Handal, The Lives of Rain, published in 2005. Nye's 1995 collection depicts travels in Mexico, Latin American, and Palestine, while her 2002 collection depicts travels in the Middle East only. A poet and a novelist, Nye has a Palestinian father and an American mother; she grew up between San Antonio, Texas, and Jerusalem. Arab and Palestinian content were not explicitly present in Nye's earlier poetry published in the 1980s and early 1990s, but increased after the 1993/95 Oslo accords, the Second Intifada, and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The content of Nye's earlier work centered more on the Hispanic Southwest and Latin America, yet the travels and solidarities Nye made with the people of this land are directly linked to her understanding and embracing of her Arab half; as she states: "I had to live in a mostly Mexican American city to feel what it meant to be part Arab." 2 In her later work, and more specifically in her introduction to 19 Varieties of Gazelle, Nye contextualizes this collection in the political turmoil in the Middle East 64 Hind El Hajj and Sirime Harb and the events of September 11, asserting that her poetry is a space for representation and vehicle for peace in response to both terrorism and prejudice.3 Born in Haiti, Handal is a French-American poet, playwright, and translator of Palestinian descent. Handa!'s The Lives of Rain ventures into the lives and experiences of Palestinians, exiles, and indigenous people with more urgency than her 1999, pre-Second Intifada epic poem The Neverfield. Part I of The Lives of Rain tours the war-stricken Palestinian political terrain, including Gaza, j enin, Ramallah, and jerusalem. Handal contextualizes her poems in relation to the Israeli occupation and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, claiming that the "poem-portraits" she creates are a way to represent the humanity of violated people and make their suffering "daunting" to her readers.' Part II takes the reader farther, depicting Handa!'s travels in the United States, Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Palestine, and North Africa. While these are seemingly unrelated geographies, Handal poetically makes links between shared political struggles relating to these places and with occupied Palestine. Part III is a travel epic that gives a fresh, self-reflective manifesto of travel, immigration, and exile. The discussion of the poems in this article relies on theories of travel perceived mainly through the lens of "cultural comparison" as theorized by historian and anthropologist james Clifford. 5 When applied to literature-as well as anthropology-Clifford's approach produces important interventions in both modern narrations of ethnic identity and theorizations about the question oftrave!' Using travel as a category of comparative analysis challenges the common association between travel and leisure and elitism; additionally, it challenges associations between the travel trope and individualized and romantic representations of exile. Through its emphasis on travel as a tool for cultural comparison, this discussion engages with the material, historical, and political circumstances of travel and investigates neglected spaces of travel. Probing identity, race, and marginalization in the poems through a framework of travel allows for an aberration from essentialist definitions and localized or place/nation-related formulations of identity. This makes possible the reconfiguration of identities across national borders; these changes are nuanced by various: modes of travel such as buses, planes, and roads; spaces of travel, such as hotels, streets, and ghettoes; and encounters during travel. Traditional anthropology has tended to localize its objects of study within a "field" or bounded site of study, such as a village or church; this achieves nothing more than "representational essentializing" of people.' By Travel, Relationality and Privilege 65 contrast, Clifford proposes a negotiation of identity and cultural experience through mediations between "native" experiences and traveling experiences of research subjects. 7 Replacing the term "native," as Clifford uses it, with the signifier 'Palestinian' formulates important questions for the purposes of this article: How does a 'Palestinian' perspective influence the traveling experiences of the poets and their poetic subjects? How does the amalgamation of Palestinian experience and traveling experiences help create what Benedict Anderson calls an 'imagined community' of minorities?8 How does an imagined community of minorities mediate the construction of a Palestinian American identity? Scholarship that specifically discusses travel and travel experiences in Arab American poetry is scarce. Nevertheless, travel is a very common theme in Arab American writing, including autobiographical narratives, fiction, and poetry.9 Travel experiences of Arab Americans, though, are usually conflated without differentiating between origins, which range from Lebanese American, Iraqi American, Palestinian American, and more. The Palestinian American approach to travel and community is nevertheless distinct, harboring an "extra dimension of exile" rooted in a long history of violence and oppression. lO Unlike other Arab traveling experiences, Palestinians do not have a safe home - possibly no home at all- to return to. Travel in their writing exceeds being a quest for
Load more

Recommended publications
  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE the Guess Who
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Guess Who will rock Tulalip Resort Casino in May 2019 TULALIP, WA – (January 25, 2019) – The Canadian rock band, The Guess Who, will be performing live in Tulalip Resort Casino’s Orca Ballroom on Friday, May 10. Formed in Winnipeg, The Guess Who initially gained recognition throughout Canada before becoming an international success in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Guess Who has enjoyed 14 Top 40 hits, including "These Eyes," "Clap For the Wolfman," "Hand Me Down World," "No Time," "Star Baby" and "Share the Land.” Additional classics include their number one rock anthem, "American Woman" and "No Sugar Tonight," plus "Laughing" and "Undun." The Guess Who are amongst music's most enduring bands and are eternally etched within the very fabric of pop culture history. Get up-close seating in the Orca Ballroom, an intimate 1,200-seat entertainment venue at Tulalip Resort Casino. Tickets go on sale Friday, March 15, at 10AM PST and start at $50. Tickets will be available for purchase on Ticketmaster.com or service charge free at the Tulalip Box Office. Must be 21+ to attend. About Tulalip Resort Casino Award-winning Tulalip Resort Casino is the most distinctive gaming, dining, meeting, entertainment and shopping destination in Washington State. The AAA Four-Diamond resort’s world-class amenities have ensured its place on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold and Traveler Top 100 Resorts lists. The property includes 192,000 square feet of gaming excitement; a luxury hotel featuring 370 guest rooms and suites; 30,000 square feet of premier meeting, convention and wedding space; the full-service T Spa; and eight dining venues.
    [Show full text]
  • Contemporary Palestine for Children
    BOOKS ABOUT Contemporary Palestine for Children BY KATHARINE DAVIES SAMWAY t was a beautiful fall day for the Dia de los Muertos (Day There aren’t many books available for of the Dead) festival and I was volunteering at a booth K-8 learners about life in Palestine since 1948. There are, however, a few. Although devoted to Palestine and the impact of the Israeli occupa- the quality of the writing varies, they are tion. Crowds of people passed by the booth and many of quite good overall and raise important them stopped to look at the posters and pick up handouts. questions about the Israeli occupation. But what really captured my attention were the children, 9 or I Nonfiction 10 years of age, who were riveted by one particular image—a photo of an Israeli soldier pointing his gun at a Palestinian A Child’s View of Gaza: Palestinian child of about 5. Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship is equally compelling for “Mami, Mami! Come and look!” have brought some books and an anno- children, older students, and adults. The Children pulled their parents and older tated booklist to hand out, I acknowl- captioned illustrations were created by siblings into the booth to look more care- edged to myself. But I could think of less Palestinian children who lived through fully at the photo and talk with me about than a handful of possibilities. the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in it. They were horrified that such a young Maybe, I thought, there are good 2008–09.
    [Show full text]
  • POETS HATING POETRY Can’T Anyone Give Poetry a Break? by Ryan Stuart Lowe
    Spring | Summer 2017 OKLAHOMA HUMANITIES Culture | Issues | Ideas dLearning to love like not hate poetry 2017—A Year of New Initiatives At Oklahoma Humanities, the will explore this challenging period in year 2017 begins with continued our nation’s history. Concurrent with the ANN THOMPSON commitment to serving the public magazine and local programming will Executive Director through inspired and inspiring cultural be the September debut of an 18-hour, experiences. In addition to successful NEH-funded Ken Burns documentary programs like Museum on Main Street; on PBS called The Vietnam War. Our Let’s Talk About it, Oklahoma; Oklahoma objective in focusing on the Vietnam era Humanities magazine; and, of course, is to remind those of us who remember our grants program; we’re working on the war to think critically of lessons special initiatives that we’re proud to learned (and not learned) from the war, bring to our state. and to inform younger generations of First, through a partnership with the challenging issues of that period the Ralph Ellison Foundation, we are that continue to impact our national sponsoring a series of public meetings identity—the civil rights movement, on race relations in Oklahoma. Using the the changing roles of women, student texts of one of Oklahoma’s most esteemed writers and favorite sons, the Foundation activism, how we treat veterans, and the will encourage community conversations roles of music, literature, television, and to foster greater understanding and to the media in forming American opinion. promote the common good. This year promises to be meaningful Second is a multi-faceted look at the and rich in opportunities and, as always, Vietnam era.
    [Show full text]
  • THE GUESS WHO BIOGRAPHY As the House Lights Fade Down and The
    THE GUESS WHO BIOGRAPHY As the house lights fade down and the stage spots flair up, the sounds of rock and roll with classic sensibilities and progressive nuances permeate the crowd. At first a familiar chord strikes everyone's attention, then comes a catchy chorus followed by a memorable solo or remarkable moment of improvisation. Such an ear-pleasing arsenal carries into a non-stop evening of precise performance taking fans on a roller coaster ride of electric instrumentation, timeless balladry, unpredictable Jamming and the ultimate sing-a-long experience. It's a position held by a troupe of true musical luminaries who through over five decades in show business have been loaded with more hits than members can count, record sales well into the multi- millions and more drama than a VH1 "Behind the Music" episode and an E! "True Hollywood Story" documentary combined. The name is none other than The Guess Who, a group that's connected with the masses throughout a exultant hit parade spanning fourteen Top 40 hits, including "These Eyes," "Clap For the Wolfman," "Hand Me Down World," "No Time," "Star Baby" and "Share the Land." Add in fellow classics and double sided singles like their #1 rock anthem "American Woman" and "No Sugar Tonight," plus "Laughing" and "Undun," and the Canadian bred stateside conquerors are amongst music's most indelible treasures who are eternally etched within the very fabric of pop culture history. "You're going to see an excellent version of the songs and hear exactly how they should sound or be played," verifies founding member and original drummer/songwriter Garry Peterson.
    [Show full text]
  • JOAN CRAWFORD Early Life and Inspiration Joan Crawford Was Born Lucille Fay Lesueur on March 23, 1908, in San Antonio, Texas
    JOAN CRAWFORD Early Life and Inspiration Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1908, in San Antonio, Texas. Her biological father, Thomas E. LeSueur, left the family shortly after Lucille’s birth, leaving Anna Bell Johnson, her mother, behind to take care of the family. page 1 Lucille’s mother later married Henry J. Cassin, an opera house owner from Lawton, Oklahoma, which is where the family settled. Throughout her childhood there, Lucille frequently watched performances in her stepfather’s theater. Lucille, having grown up watching the many vaudeville acts perform at the theater, grew up wanting to pursue a dancing career. page 2 In 1917, Lucille’s family moved to Kansas City after her stepfather was accused of embezzlement. Cassin, a Catholic, sent Lucille to a Catholic girls’ school by the name of St. Agnes Academy. When her mother and stepfather divorced, she remained at the academy as a work student. It was there that she began dating and met a man named Ray Sterling, who inspired her to start working hard in school. page 3 In 1922, Lucille registered at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. However, she only attended the college for a few months before dropping out when she realized that she was not prepared enough for college. page 4 Early Career After her stint at Stephens, Lucille began dancing in various traveling choruses under the name Lucille LeSueur. While performing in Detroit, her talent was noticed by a producer named Jacob Shubert. Shubert gave her a spot in his 1924 Broadway show Innocent Eyes, in which she performed in the chorus line.
    [Show full text]
  • Burton Cummings Mccallum Theatre Monday – February 24 – 7:00Pm
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2020 CONTACT: DeAnn Lubell-Ames – (760) 831-3090 Note: Photos available at http://mccallumtheatre.com/index.php/media Burton Cummings McCallum Theatre Monday – February 24 – 7:00pm Palm Desert, CA – Burton Cummings, one of the most successful music artists in Canadian history, will head down south to the McCallum Theatre for a special performance at 7:00pm, Monday, Feb. 24. Cummings is best known as the former lead singer of and songwriter for The Guess Who. He is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, Canadian Walk of Fame, Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Prairie Music Hall of Fame. He’s won multiple Juno Awards, and is a recipient of the Order of Canada, the Order of Manitoba, the Governor- General’s Performance Arts Award, and several BMI (Broadcast Music Industry) awards for more than 1 million airplays of his songs. With Canada’s original rock ’n’ roll superstars The Guess Who, Burton scored an unprecedented string of international hit singles, including “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “No Time,” “American Woman,” “Share the Land,” “Hang on to Your Life,” “Albert Flasher,” “Sour Suite,” “Glamour Boy,” “Star Baby,” “Clap for the Wolfman” and “Dancin’ Fool”—all written or co-written by Burton. By 1970, The Guess Who had sold more records than the entire Canadian music industry combined to that point, and the band’s achievements remain unparalleled. The group notched up a long list of firsts, including being the first Canadian group to reach No.
    [Show full text]
  • A Portrayal of Gender and a Description of Gender Roles in Selected American Modern and Postmodern Plays
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2002 A Portrayal of Gender and a Description of Gender Roles in Selected American Modern and Postmodern Plays. Bonny Ball Copenhaver East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Recommended Citation Copenhaver, Bonny Ball, "A Portrayal of Gender and a Description of Gender Roles in Selected American Modern and Postmodern Plays." (2002). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 632. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/632 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Portrayal of Gender and a Description of Gender Roles in Selected American Modern and Postmodern Plays A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis by Bonny Ball Copenhaver May 2002 Dr. W. Hal Knight, Chair Dr. Jack Branscomb Dr. Nancy Dishner Dr. Russell West Keywords: Gender Roles, Feminism, Modernism, Postmodernism, American Theatre, Robbins, Glaspell, O'Neill, Miller, Williams, Hansbury, Kennedy, Wasserstein, Shange, Wilson, Mamet, Vogel ABSTRACT The Portrayal of Gender and a Description of Gender Roles in Selected American Modern and Postmodern Plays by Bonny Ball Copenhaver The purpose of this study was to describe how gender was portrayed and to determine how gender roles were depicted and defined in a selection of Modern and Postmodern American plays.
    [Show full text]
  • Mystic Messenger Mystic Many of Us, a Time of Trying to Make
    Volume 6, Issue 2 December’s Theme is Stillness Stillness December 1, 2020 By Rebecca Kelley-Morgan, Director of some fashion. Keeping, as the poet Lifespan Religious Education Neruda writes, “our lives moving”. Reading, cleaning, exercising, baking Usually this season, December is a sourdough breads, household projects, rush of activity, gifting, cooking, plan- parenting, and home schooling, all on ning, and taking advantage of the steroids. I was encouraged to keep a many different times and ways to pandemic journal, so that a future Ken gather. Not this December. I have Burns has material to describe these always believed the many festivals times. I declined to accept the chal- during the winter were an instinctive lenge. push back at the darkness, finding consolation for the short days in cele- There are others who found a different bration with each other. Not this De- focus, falling into a sort of inertia, while cember. The pandemic has forced a doom scrolling through the news and protracted pause on our accustomed pandemic statistics, perseverating up- rhythms of living. on them. A couple of months ago, I found this Whatever our reactions and responses, poem by Pablo Neruda and promptly they all become exhausting. and at posted it above my computer screen. some point, the weight of keeping busy forces us into stillness. Stillness borne “Now we will count to twelve on fatigue, when the mind goes blank, when the hands grow idle. But are we and we will all keep still ever still? Our hearts beat on, our bod- for once... ies go about their business and we If we were not so single-minded about keeping our lives moving, and for once could do nothing, perhaps a huge silence might interrupt this sadness of never understanding ourselves…” (Continued on page 2) These last 9 months have been, for Mystic Messenger Mystic many of us, a time of trying to make Inside this issue: sense of the abrupt and continuing disruption to them.
    [Show full text]
  • Birth Behind the Veil: African American Midwives and Mothers in the Rural South, 1921-1962 by Kelena Reid Maxwell a Dissertatio
    Birth Behind the Veil: African American Midwives and Mothers in the Rural South, 1921-1962 by Kelena Reid Maxwell A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Deborah Gray White and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October, 2009 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Birth Behind the Veil: African American Midwives and Mothers in the Rural South, 1921-1962 By Kelena Reid Maxwell Dissertation Director: Deborah Gray White By the early twentieth century, the majority of white women living in the United States were giving birth in hospitals under the care of a physician. In 1921, the majority of women who gave birth under conditions that were indigenous, eclectic, spirit based, and not according to the standards of modern medicine, were the rural black women of the South. African American midwives and women of the South maintained the core qualities of the home birthing traditions, handed down through a matrilineal system of recruitment and training from the period of enslavement throughout the twentieth century. This occurred amidst a major program of midwife training and regulation. Public Health officials of the early twentieth century urged midwife regulation as a temporary measure. Medical professionals considered the lay midwives of the south a necessary evil. They were necessary because the population they served was left out of a medical system that operated according to the practices and laws of racial segregation.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Black Feminism Through the Lens of Beyoncé’S Pop Culture Performance Kathryn M
    Seattle aP cific nivU ersity Digital Commons @ SPU Honors Projects University Scholars Spring June 7th, 2018 I Got Hot Sauce In My Bag: Understanding Black Feminism Through The Lens of Beyoncé’s Pop Culture Performance Kathryn M. Butterworth Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Race, Ethnicity and Post- Colonial Studies Commons Recommended Citation Butterworth, Kathryn M., "I Got Hot Sauce In My Bag: Understanding Black Feminism Through The Lens of Beyoncé’s Pop Culture Performance" (2018). Honors Projects. 81. https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects/81 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the University Scholars at Digital Commons @ SPU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ SPU. I GOT HOT SAUCE IN MY BAG: UNDERSTANDING BLACK FEMINISM THROUGH THE LENS OF BEYONCÉ’S POP CULTURE PREFORMANCE by KATHRYN BUTTERWORTH FACULTY ADVISOR, YELENA BAILEY SECOND READER, CHRISTINE CHANEY A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University Scholars Program Seattle Pacific University 2018 Approved_________________________________ Date____________________________________ Abstract In this paper I argue that Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, functions as a textual hybrid between poetry, surrealist aesthetics and popular culture—challenging the accepted understanding of cultural production within academia. Furthermore, Lemonade centers black life while presenting mainstream audiences with poetry and avant-garde imagery that challenge dominant views of black womanhood. Using theorists bell hooks, Stuart Hall, Patricia Hill- Collins and Audre Lorde, among others, I argue that Beyoncé’s work challenges the understanding of artistic production while simultaneously fitting within a long tradition of black feminist cultural production.
    [Show full text]
  • AN INTERVIEW with NATHALIE HANDAL Lily Pearl Balloffet & Elizabeth Claire Saylor DIASPORIC CARTOGRA
    Mashriq & Mahjar 4, no. 1 (2017), 141-146 ISSN 2169-4435 DIASPORIC CARTOGRAPHIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH NATHALIE HANDAL Lily Pearl Balloffet & Elizabeth Claire Saylor The poet, playw-right, travel writer, and intellectual Nathalie Handal is a true citizen of the world. Born to a Palestinian family from Bethlehem, Handal was raised between France, Latin America, and the Middle East, and educated in Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Handal's creative work reflects her nomadic upbringing and draws inspiration from multiple languages and cultures, making her one of the most important voices of the Arah Diaspora. Handal's La Estrella Invisible (The Invisible Star) (Valparaiso Ediciones, 2014) is the first contemporary collection of poetry that explores the city of Bethlehem and the lives of its exiles in the wider diaspora. As she states in the following intervkw, "although the atlas of my being is the globe, my gaze is always East." Handal has enriched international literature through research and translation as editor of two landmark anthologies, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond (W.W. Norton, 2008, cd. by Handa!, Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar), and The Poetry ofArab Women (Interlink Books, 2001). By showcasing the work of 83 women poets from virtually every country in the Arabic­ speaking world, The Poetry of Arab ·Women counteracts the invisibility of poets from marginalized groups. HandaI's work has been translated into more than fifteen languages - fitting for an artist whose work so thoroughly embodies the migratory and diasporic experience, which the writer calls "displacement and its disturbances." A weaver of words and cultures, and a wanderer among languages, landscapes, and art forms, Handa] has said: "Movement is creativity." She currently teaches at Columbia University and lives in New York City, where millions of subway commuters daily read her poem "Lady Liberty," published as part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's public poetry project, Poetry in Motion.
    [Show full text]
  • Naomi Shihab Nye Biography
    Naomi Shihab Nye Biography http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/naomi_shihab_nye/biography Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet and songwriter born in 1952 to a Palestinian father and American mother. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas. Both roots and sense of place are major themes in her body of work. Her first collection of poems, Different Ways to Pray, explored the theme of similarities and differences between cultures, which would become one of her lifelong areas of focus. Her other books include poetry collections 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Red Suitcase, and Fuel; a collection of essays entitled Never in a Hurry; a young-adult novel called Habibi (the autobiographical story of an Arab-American teenager who moves to Jerusalem in the 1970s) and picture book Lullaby Raft, which is also the title of one of her two albums of music. (The other is called Rutabaga-Roo; both were limited-edition.) Enlarge Picture Nye has edited many anthologies of poems, for audiences both young and old. One of the best-known is This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from around the World, which contains translated work by 129 poets from 68 different countries. Her most recent anthology is called Is This Forever, Or What?: Poems & Paintings from Texas. Her poems are frank and accessible, often making use of ordinary images in startling ways. Her ability to enter into foreign experiences and chronicle them from the inside is reminiscent of Elizabeth Bishop, while her simple and direct "voice" is akin to that of her mentor William Stafford.
    [Show full text]