Three Poems

i got missing | a disappearance | used to be

Authors

  • Laila Halaby

Abstract

From the poet's Website: "In life and in stories I love contrasts and unlikely juxtapositions, which perhaps is the result of coming from two distinct cultures. I see artists as translators/interpreters who give us a glimpse at a situation or a person or a feeling in some more accessible medium. They can also offer us an eye into someone else’s world and help dispel stereotypes and misconceptions by tugging at that universal spot, the humanity within us all. Stories are everywhere, from the more obvious places like songs and novels and poems, to the less striking ones, like paintings and bus stops. We all have stories to tell, and what is perhaps more important, we have many, many stories to listen to. I don’t have an agenda as a writer, but I do believe that it is my responsibility to offer an honest and challenging story, one that leaves you thinking, leaves you with questions, and also leaves you hopeful."

Author Biography

Laila Halaby

Halaby is the author of two novels, Once in a Promised Land (a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Authors selection; named by the Washington Post as one of the best 100 novels of 2007) and West of the Jordan (winner of a PEN/Beyond Margins Award), as well as a collection of poetry my name on his tongue (Syracuse University Press, Spring 2012). Halaby was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship for study of folklore in Jordan and holds two Masters degrees from UCLA in literature and Loyola Marymount in Counseling. She has spent the last several years marrying her two professions and currently works as an expressive arts program coordinator with refugees. She has taught creative writing at the Southern Arizona Veterans Hospital in Tucson as well as worked as a therapist with homeless youth and young adults.

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Published

2018-08-31

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2018): Languaging as Refuge: Practice Meets Theory

Section

“They Don’t Hear my Tongue Dance in Arabic”

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