Grape Leaves

“An excellent collection that does justice to the Arab-American poetic contribution to America’s literature and renders it easily accessible in this handsome volume.” – Middle East Journal“This anthology offers some real literary meat … The spicy variety of syntax and cultural backgrounds had me hooked.” – David Gershator“A collection of unusually fine poetry.” – San Antonio Light“The superstar is the legendary Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), born in a Lebanese mountain village and raised in Boston, one of the world’s most famous modern poets. For those who know only The Prophet’s “sacred incantation,” it’s good to have available selections from other diverse Arab American voices, from Ameen Rihani (1876-1940) to Elmaz Abinader (b. 1954) … With a complex blend of ethnicity, these poets seek to build bridges “between worlds” and forge new kinds of identity.” – Library Journal“Beginning with the circle around Kahlil Gibran … and concluding with such well- established younger poets as Lawrence Joseph and Naomi Shihab Nye, this is an admirably non-doctrinaire collection. The editors have included Muslim, Jewish, and Christian writers … and writers in every style from Gibran’s Whitmanian cutouts to the beat prosody of San Francisco poet Etel Adnan and the droll enigmas of critic Eugene Paul Nassar … A worthy beginner-level introduction to a community of poets seldom acknowledged here.” – Kirkus Reviews

Gregory Orfalea is a journalist, editor, and poet. He is the author of The Capital of Solitude, a book of poems. He is also the author of Arab Americans: A History, Messengers of the Lost Battalion: The Heroic 551st, and Turning of the Tide at the Battle of the Bulge. He was director of the Center for Writing at Pitzer College, where he taught creative nonfiction and the short story.

Sharif S. Elmusa is a widely-published poet, editor, and an esteemed translator of Arabic poetry. His poetry collection Flawed Landscape: Poems 1987 – 2008 was published by Interlink to great acclaim.

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