Suzanne Alaywan (born 1974) is a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and painter. She has admitted to

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

as being inspiration to her work, in addition to

Japanese art Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and calligraphy on silk and paper, ''ukiyo-e'' paintings and woodblock prints, ceramics, origami, and more recently manga and anime. It ...

. She writes predominantly in Arabic.

Personal life

Born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

to a Lebanese father and Iraqi mother.Haven Books: Suzan Alaiwan
Due to the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, Alaywan spent her adolescent years between Andalus,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. She attended the American School of Paris, graduating in 1992. In 1997 she graduated from the faculty of Journalism and Media in the

American University of Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

Publications

Since 1994, Alaywan has published nine collections of poetry, several of which have been translated. * ''Café Bird'' (1994) * ''Angels’ Hideout'' (1995) * ''Unique'' (1996) * ''Temporary Sun'' (1998) * ''No Way Out'' (1999) *''Provisional Sun'' (2000) * ''A Presence Called Love'' (2001) * ''Blind Lantern'' (2002) * ''Envisioning the Scene'' (2004) * ''Junk Words'' (2006). This has also been translated as "A Clutter of Words". *''All Roads Lead to Salah Salem'' (2008). (Arabic language, has not been translated) *''The Gazelle`s Throw'' (2011) Her works have been included in poetry collections and other collected volumes. * A poem titled "About Fear" appeared in Issue 14 of ''

A Gathering of the Tribes A Gathering of the Tribes was a two-day music and culture festival organized by Ian Astbury and promoter Bill Graham, held in California in October 1990. It is considered the precursor to the Lollapalooza touring festivals of the 1990s, an opinio ...

'' (2013), a publication focused on art and culture from a diverse perspective. * Three poems titled "Montmartre", "Draft of a City", and "Degree Zero of the Desert" appeared in the winter 2013 issue of ArteEast Shadehat called ''City of Translation''. * Her work appeared in ''Diván de poetisas árabes contemporáneas'' (''Divan of Contemporary Arab Women Poets'') (2016), a spanish language book which highlights the importance of poetic history beginning in the mid-20th century. The volume includes work by ten women poets including Alaywan. * A poem titled " A House made of Sugar" appeared in Lisan, a German-language publication focused on Arabic poetry and fiction in translation. * Three poems from her collection "A Clutter of Words" were published in ''Transference'' Vol. 5 (2017), an academic journal that focuses exclusively on poetic translations.

References

External links

Official site in ArabicOfficial Blog
1974 births The American University in Cairo alumni Iraqi artists Lebanese people of Iraqi descent Lebanese women poets Lebanese women artists Living people Writers from Beirut Iraqi women artists Lebanese contemporary artists 20th-century Lebanese poets 21st-century Lebanese poets 20th-century Lebanese women writers 21st-century Lebanese women writers Artists from Beirut 21st-century Lebanese artists {{Lebanon-poet-stub