Seen Jeem

In this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews Reda Taleb about her children's book, Noura's Extraordinary Power. The book center's on 8 year old Noura as she discovers her "missing" father is actually incarcerated. Loosely based on her own family experience, Taleb aims to explain and unpack incarceration to youth of all ages. Watch Reda's reading at seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/reda

In this episode, Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine interviews award-winning journalist and novelist Omar El Akkad about his second novel, What Strange Paradise. The novel follows 9 year old Amir and 15 year old Vänna as they both seek safety. El Akkad speaks on the universal inclination towards friendship, the underlying connection to Peter Pan, and the "dueling fantasies" of not what the world is, but what he believes it to be. Check out Omar's reading at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/omar

In this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews professor and author Wessam Elmeligi about his graphic novels Y and Yand Jamila.Written during the Arab Spring, Y and Ycontrasts the innocence of childhood with the brutality of war. Jamilafollows the journey of one Egyptian woman navigating familial and cultural expectations, defying euro-centric stereotypes, and ultimately recognizing the truth of her name. Watch a video of Wessam's readings at www.seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/wessam

Sally Howell interviews award-winning poet Hajjar Baban about her chapbooks Relative to Bloodand What I Know of the Mountains.Baban discusses how she got her start in poetry and the themes she explores within her writing: identity, religion, language, displacement, and place. Today's episode was originally published on the Halal Metropolis Podcast. Learn more at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/hajjar

In this episode, Matthew Jaber Stiffler interviews award-winning poet Safia Elhillo. Elhillo discusses her novel in verse, Home Is Not a Country,and her second book of poetry, Girls That Never Die.Elhillo speaks about the autobiographical nature of her work, the audience she writes for, the practice of writing poetry, and the direction her future books might take. Check out Safia's readings at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/safia

In this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews Eman Quotah about her novel, Bride of the Sea. Bride of the Seafollows the lives of a mother and her daughter, who disappear after the collapse of her marriage, and the father who spends years searching for them from another country. Quotah's debut novel explores loss, religion, family, and the lasting effects of decisions made out of despair. Learn more at seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/eman

Sally Howell interviews poet Kamelya Omaya Youssef about her book, A book with a hole in it, composed of Youssef's journal entries from a four month period in 2019. A book with a hole in itis "an experiment" and a lyrical processing of various traumas Youssef experiences and witnesses in her life. Today's episode was originally published on the Halal Metropolis Podcast. Learn more at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/kamelya

On today’s episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson speaks with Rabih Alameddine, an award-winning Lebanese-American painter and writer. They discuss Rabih's book, The Wrong End of the Telescope. This powerful book showcases the story of an Arab American trans women doctor's work with Syrian refugees on the island of Lesbos, and her connection with a refugee mother who hid her cancer diagnosis from her recently displaced family. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Anchor.  Watch Rabih's reading and learn more at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/rabih

The Seen Jeem Podcast is ringing in a new season with a special episode featuring Pauline Homsi Vinson interviewing Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine.  Abou-Zeineddine is co-editor of the creative non-fiction anthology Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundry and Belonging. The anthology features well established and first time Arab American writers. Hadha Baladuna, Arabic for “this is our country,” explores the diverse and distinct experiences of Arab Americans in Dearborn, MI, the city with the highest concentration of Arabs in the U.S. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Anchor.  Watch Ghassan's reading and learn more at https://seenjeempodcast.org/season-two-episodes/ghassan

On the final episode of the first season of the Seen Jeem podcast, we have the pleasure of speaking with journalist, cartoonist and author Malaka Gharib about her award-winning graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream, which explores themes related to the immigrant experience. Listen to this episode to learn more about how Malaka's identity as a Filipino-Egyptian-American person inspired her book! View videos of Malaka's reading here: www.seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-15-malaka-gharib

In this week's episode of the Seen Jeem podcast, Rajia Hassib discusses her second novel A Pure Heart. She explains her process of dramatizing the Arab Spring, contemporary Egyptian society, sisterhood, religion and secularism, the pursuit of purity, immigration, the importance of historical artifacts, and finding a sense of home in a foreign place. To watch recordings of Rajia's reading, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-14-rajia-hassib

In this episode of the Seen Jeem Podcast, Khaled Mattawa talks to Matthew Jaber Stiffler about his newest collection of poetry, Fugitive Atlas (2020), his history as a leading figure in the development of Arab American literature, and his arts work in Libya. To watch a recording of Khaled's reading, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-13-khaled-mattawa

Mohja Kahf discusses two of her books of poetry with Sally Howell. Hagar Poems was released in 2016 and My Lover Brings Me Grapefruit came out in 2020. Listen to this episode to hear about what inspires Kahf's poetry, which often challenges patriarchal dynamics while advancing discussions on religion, race, women's empowerment and love. She read several poems for us: More than One Way to Break a Fast, Ramadan Godsend, Wet Chastity and more. To watch her readings visit www.seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode12-mohja-kahf

In today's episode, Susan Muaddi Darraj discusses her book series Farah Rocks Fifth Grade, which is the first chapter book series to feature Arab American characters. She describes the process of writing for children, the representation of people of color in children’s literature, challenging the publishing industry’s stereotypes of Arab Americans, and dramatizing an Arab American identity and community, among other topics. To watch a recording of Susan's reading, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-11-susan-muaddi-darraj

In this episode of the Seen Jeem podcast, Arab American National Museum (AANM) Director Diana Abouali chats with award-winning author Massoud Hayoun about his book,When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten History. In this decolonial memoir, Massoud explores his grandparent's remarkable story as Jewish Arabs whose experiences were shaped by colonial ambitions in North Africa. Listen to this episode to hear from Massoud about his investigation of regional politics and how it helped him uncover his incredible family history. To watch a recording of Massoud's reading visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-10-massoud-hayoun

In today's episode, award-winning author Zaina Arafat sits down with Matthew Jaber Stiffler to share what inspired her 2020 debut novel You Exist Too Much. Zaina also shares her writing journey and experiences growing up as one of the only Arab Americans in her community. To view recordings of Zaina's reading, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-09-zaina-arafat

In this episode, Iraqi American poet and educator Alise Alousi discusses her poetry and her work for the Detroit-based literary arts organization InsideOut with Sally Howell. She also reads several of her poems for us: “Capture the Flag,” “The Man Who Painted My Father's Eye,” “Imitation Spring - a Ghazal,” and “What Every Driver Must Know.” To view recordings of Alise's readings visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-08-alise-alousi

In this episode, acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye discusses her collection of poems, The Tiny Journalist (2019), with Diana Abouali, director of the Arab American National Museum. The “tiny journalist” refers to Janna Jihad Ayyad, the Palestinian citizen journalist who has been documenting and reporting Israel’s colonization of her homeland since she was a young girl. Recorded a few weeks after the 2021 Israel attacks on Gaza, Shihab Nye reflects on her identity as a Palestinian-American as well as the resilience of Palestinians in the face of ongoing adversity. For video recordings of her reading, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-07-naomi-shihab-nye

In today's episode of the Seen Jeem podcast, Sahar Mustafah discusses her debut and award-winning novel The Beauty of Your Face. Mustafah goes into detail about the writing of her book, which includes employing an episodic narrative structure and dramatizing the horror of a school shooting at an Islamic school for girls located in the Chicago suburbs. She talks about the representation of Arab American and Muslim American women in her fiction, and how her representations challenge the publishing industry’s stereotypes of such women. For video recordings of her readings, visit https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode6-sahar-mustafah

Author and professor Diana Abu-Jaber joins us to chat about her new young adult fantasy novel, Silverworld (2020), which she reads a short passage from! She shares with us her trajectory as a writer who often focuses on food and identity. 

Hayan Charara joins us today on the Seen Jeem podcast to discuss his latest book of poetry, These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit, a "lushly transcendental and companionable" work according to Diane Seuss. Charara shares this new work with host Sally Howell and they also discuss the many ways in which Detroit and Dearborn are represented in his poetry as windows onto memory, family, community, and empathy. Charara provides several readings, including "Terrorism," "Neighbors," and a passage from "The Prize." 

You can pre-order These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit here: https://milkweed.org/book/these-trees-those-leaves-this-flower-that-fruit

Watch recordings of Hayan's readings here: https://seenjeempodcast.org/episodes/episode-04-hayan-charara

In this episode, we catch up with award-winning author Randa Jarrar! She joins us for the third episode of the Seen Jeem podcast to discuss her unapologetically defiant book, Love is an Ex-Country (2021), with the Arab American National Museum's Research and Content Manager Matthew Jaber Stiffler. Randa also talks about finding community as an Arab American woman writer and even shares some details of her budding film career. A video recording of Randa's reading can be viewed at www.seenjeempodcast.org

This interview took place in the Spring of 2021.

In this episode of the Seen Jeem Podcast, Sally Howell interviews author Safia Elhillo about her latest book,Home is Not a Country.The novel in verse explores themes of diasporic belonging through the experiences of the main character, 15-year-old Nima. Elhillo reads several excerpts from the book including "America," "Nostalgia Monster," "Haytham," and "Baba." Recordings of the readings are available on our website at  seenjeempodcast.org.

Welcome to the first episode of the Seen Jeem podcast, which highlights the voices of contemporary Arab American writers! Joining us for our first episode is Dunya Mikhail. Dunya discusses her latest collection of poetry In Her Feminine Sign, touching on the art of translation, the use of testimonials and fables in verse, the meaning of home, the plight of Iraqi women in times of political instability and violence, war trauma, and the burden of memories. She describes the experience of returning to Iraq after years of exile to conduct research for her creative nonfiction book The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq.

This interview took place in the Spring of 2021.