#I do admit though most of my literature studies focused on European literature and African American literature.

[cinnbar-bun]

hello dear! just read your Crocodile fic and i am in love

i wanted to ask you a favor… if it’s not too much trouble could you please share some arabic poems with us? i love how they express themselves and the way they talk is so full of life, thank you in advance!

Oh this is such a lovely ask! I’ll be the first to admit that to be honest, I probably couldn’t give you really good recommendations. Most of my studies and degree work in literature comes from Arabic authors who have written about their experiences in English rather than literature/poetry in the Arabic language.

Obviously there are the rather “known” ones like Mahmoud Darwish and possibly Rumi (although it’s more Persian but, ya know-). I do recommend Maram al-Rasmi, she was one I found on my own. I’ll list Abdallah Zrika, Nazik Al-Malaika, Khalil Mutran, Ibrahim Tuqan, and Fadwa Tuqan.

As for what I have read, and I highly recommend their works if you are looking to read more Arab-English authors/poets (please read up on the content warnings- you can dm me and I’ll do my best to list them). Also apologies for the summaries below:

Naomi Shihab Nye: a lovely poet. Scared, Scarred, Sacred is one I’ve read a lot during my university studies.

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan. This follows four generations of a Palestinian family after the Six-Day war. I really loved this one and the relationship between the family, both in their dysfunction and in their bonding. There are lots of heavy topics in this one, especially since it is directly dealing with war and the generational trauma associated with it.

I, the Divine by Rabih Alameddine. I will be the first to admit that the way it’s set up and jumps around chronologically can be confusing and drag in the beginning, but after piecing together the story as it goes along, it’s truly a beautiful and unique story. It stuck with me in a way that I couldn’t really explain. Trigger warning for this one too the content can get heavy and graphic. I’m not gonna summarize too much I think you should dive head first into it.

A Pure Heart by Rajia Hassib. This follows two sisters, Rose and Gameela, who have distinct personalities and views on politics and culture. After Gameela’s death, Rose goes back to Egypt and looks through Gameela’s items only to discover how much Gameela hid from her family.

As a lit major I love answering questions like this so thank you for giving me the opportunity!!! I really appreciate the question and am so happy you took the opportunity to read my work and ask this. Have a lovely day, darling!!