Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian- American poet, author and political activist. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old.
She grew up absorbing the stories of her family and the life they had in the hometown of Lydda before the 1948 Palestinian exodus. She was raised with traditional family values and the idea to keep “looking for the other side of the story” by her parents who are refugees.
Her first introduction to poetry was through the Koran, which her mother described as the most perfect poetry in the world. Poetry has always played a significant role in her life; she recollects writing poems as soon as she could read. Her literary influences are broad and expansive including June Jordan, Alice Walker and some of the many Palestinians who risked their lives daring to be Palestinian.
Her family´s experience is reflected in her writing and we can see that in her two first books, “Born Palestinian, Born Black” and “Drops of this Story,” a memoir detailing her experiences growing up as a Palestinian-American. Hammad is known to tackle issues like sexism, violence and the challenges facing women in her writing.
From her experience in life she learned to use language as a tool to provide a voice to the Palestinians people but also to all those who are displaced and without a voice.
She is now working on her third publication which will be a book of prose.
Her many awards include a Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event for Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway (2003), the Emerging Artist Award from the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Institute at NYU (2001), the Morris Center for Healing Poetry Award (1996) and the Audre Lorde Writing Award at Hunter College (1995 and 2000).
Daughter
Leaves and leaving call october home
her daughter releases wood
smoke from her skin
rich in scorpio
blood survived the first
flood each new year marks
a circle around her
thick bark middle
this the month summer and
winter fall into each
other and leave orange
yellow ashes
the vibrancy of death
carry it all
coiled in my belly
cut on the cusp
of libra tail
tips the scales
tonight it is raining in
the tradition of my parents
wanted a daughter not a writer
happy birthday poet
who loves you baby
the way your mama did
under her breast the way your
father did under his breath
leaves and leaving have known
my name intimately
i harvest pumpkins
to offer the river eat
buttered phoenix meat
to celebrate a new year
new cipher for my belly
i got a new name
secret nobody knows
the cold can’t call me
leaving won’t know
where to find me
october gonna hide me
in her harvest in
her seasons
happy birthday daughter
of the falling
Video
Suheir Hammad: Poems of war, peace, women, power
Further reading:
– Drops of Suheir Hammad: A Talk with a Palestinian Poet Born Black
– Suheir Hammad: Poet and Author
– Interview with Suheir Hammad
Source:
–http://globalartscentral.com/
