By Nadia Alamah and Times Staff Writer<\/p>\n
Cross-cultural poetry was the theme of the latest Poetry Under the Stars series event. On Tues., March 13, at Longway Planetarium, audience members gathered to listen to Eastern poetry at March\u2019s Poetry Under the Stars meeting.<\/p>\n
March\u2019s feature poet was Ibaa Ismail, who was published in the 2004 edition of the Anthology of Arab Poetry in the United Kingdom. She has also published with various American and Arab-American cultural organizations. Her latest collection of poems is \u201cThe Awakening of Fire and Jasmine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an Arab-American, my direction is towards Modern and Postmodern poetry,\u201d Ismail said.<\/p>\n
The night began with Chair of Foreign Languages Jamile Lawand presenting various types of Chinese and Japanese poetry in an introduction to the prospect of students from a Chinese class at UM-Flint performing their own poetry in next year\u2019s schedule of events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deal with meditations on the stars, the night, love, drinking\u2026 just some very nice quaint poems that will go well with the theme of stars under the dome,\u201d Lawand said.<\/p>\n
Following Lawland\u2019s presentation, students from UM-Flint Professor Mohamed Daassa\u2019s Arabic class read poetry from many famous Arabic poets in Arabic, which they then translated. Some students even wrote their own poetry.<\/p>\n
Fatima Rashed, a general studies major at Mott Community College, read \u201cMy Joy\u201d by Rabi\u2019a al \u2018Adawiyya.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe talks about her love of God and how she doesn\u2019t focus on other relationships so much because\u2026 the relationship with God\u2014there\u2019s never a heartbreak or anything because a higher being doesn\u2019t give you heartbreak,\u201d Rashed said. \u201cI chose this poem because it was unique. I never read a poem that was focused on love of God so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daassa introduced poet Ibaa Ismail, who read more prominent poems from her previous collections and from her latest book of poems, which has yet to be published.<\/p>\n
Ismail\u2019s poems are full of symbolism, expressed in poems like \u201cThe Octopus of War\u201d and \u201cThe Seagull of Poetry.\u201d Her themes included war, hope and her experiences when traveling to the United States from Syria. Poems such as \u201cThe Flame of Alienation\u201d describe her overcoming her fears using the analogy of a phoenix rising from the flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t choose the subjects\u2014they choose me,\u201d Ismail said. \u201cBecause [when] you have to live the experience, you write very fluidly, very spontaneously. You write your anger, you write your happiness, you write your passions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next and final Poetry Under the Stars event will take place on April 10 and will feature French poet and UM-Flint French Professor Vittorio Trionfi and retired MCC Professor Grayce Sholt, as well as English Professor Jan Worth-Nelson. French students from UM-Flint will also present poetry.<\/p>\n
Nadia can be reached at nalamah@umflint.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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