Hayan Charara's, Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry, is Released

posted on: Apr 21, 2008

An indispensable and historic volume, “Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry” gathers together poems, from the most important contemporary Arab American poets, that shape and alter our understanding of the Arab American experience.

Impressive in its scope, this book provides readers with an astonishing array of poetic sensibilities. Whether about culture, politics, loss, art, or language itself, the poems here engage these themes with originality, dignity, and an unyielding need not only to speak, but also to be heard. Here are thirty-nine poets offering up 160 poems.

Included in the anthology are Etel Adnan, Naomi Shihab Nye, Samuel Hazo, D.H. Melhem,
Lawrence Joseph, Khaled Mattawa, Mohja Kahf, Matthew Shenodah, Kazim Ali, Nuar Alsadir, Fady Joudah, and Suheir Hammad. Charara has written a lengthy introduction about the state of Arab American poetry in the country today and short biographies of the poets and provided an extensive list of further readings.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, to immigrant parents, Hayan Charara studied English at Wayne State University in Detroit, cultural theory at New York University, and literature at the University of Houston. Widely published in journals and anthologies, including American Poetry: The Next Generation and Present/ Tense: Poets in the World, and Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond, he is the author of two collections of poetry, The Alchemist’s Diary and The Sadness of Others, which was nominated for the National Book Award in 2006. He has taught at colleges and universities for more than ten years and currently lives in Texas, where he is also a woodworker.

For more information:

Melissa King
University of Arkansas Press
mak001@uark.edu