Okay, the reporters seem to say, those Arabs have managed to get themselves some bright lights, and a stage. They’ve got the audience, check. But where’s the glam, the sex, the glitter, the sarcasm? What’s all this bloody good-heartedness and poetry?
Surely I’m too sensitive, but I find something slightly sneering about these (hand covering mouth, giggling) reports about the Middle Easterners who like…my God, poetry? Or maybe I just wish it could become a rare opportunity to reflect on ourselves: Why can’t we like poetry, too?
ABC’s Person of the Week, Hissa Hilal.