Suheir Hammad

Poems for Benghazi, Poems for Libya

Tonight, my hopes are with Benghazi. I’ve been re-reading poems from award-winning Khaled Mattawa, who grew up in Benghazi.Continue Reading

A Palestinian-American Poet’s Virtual Book Tour and More Poems for Gaza

Yesterday on The Huffington Post, Anis Shivani introduced three emerging poets who have books scheduled for release in early 2011. One of them was the Palestinian-American poet Deema Shehabi, whose debut collection, Thirteen Departures from the Moon, is set to come out from Press 53 in March.Continue Reading

‘So Much Survives the Process of Translation’

Yes, it’s Halloween, but it’s also nearly time for this year’s Arab-focused London Poetry Festival. Spooooky!
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Film Featuring Suheir Hammad’s Poetry Now Online

The film, When I Stretch Forth Mine Hand, is part of a collective of directors’ responses to the assault on Gaza. It was made last year by Omar Robert Hamilton and—he says—is newly online. The full collection of films was called Gaza’s Winter, and was produced by Najwa Najjar (PomegranatesContinue Reading

Suheir Hammad: On the Brink of… for Rachel Corrie

Suheir Hammad writes and performs her poetry in English (not Arabic), but some days, who cares about these distinctions?Continue Reading

An Excerpt from Faleeha Hassan’s ‘War And Me’
“From the events I recount in this memoir, you will understand that next to my name in the Unknown World or beside it at the moment I was born, the only comment inscribed must have been: ‘Faleeha Hassan will coexist with war for most of the years of her life.'”
Sudanese Writer Reem Gaafar Makes 2023 Island Prize Longlist
Organizers have announced the longlist for the 2023 Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa.
Rewriting National History from a Personal Perspective: Hiyem Cheurfa on Arab Women’s Life Writing
This March, Hiyem Cheurfa’s new book Contemporary Arab Women’s Life Writing and the Politics of Resistance appeared as part of Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature series. In it, Cheurfa takes us on a journey through a number of women’s memoirs, written in the context of twenty-first century uprisings. In this conversation, the author talks about the challenges and the difficulties of writing this book and how the texts she studied changed her life.
Lit & Found: ‘Sudanese Novels Through Time’
Over at Kotobli, they have posted a new list; this time, of Sudanese novels through time. The list was curated by Sudanese-American writer Razan Idris.