Seen Jeem
28 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsThe Seen Jeem Podcast highlights the voices of contemporary Arab American writers. It is brought to you by the Center for Arab American Studies and the Arab American National Museum and it is funded by the University of Michigan Arts Initiative and the Ford Community Development Fund.
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Episodes
The Good Arabs with Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
April 25, 2023 18:06 - 46 minutes - 64.1 MBIn this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews poet Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch about their award-winning poetry collection, The Good Arabs. El Bechelany-Lynch's The Good Arabs explores the many simultaneous realities present within their Arab, Lebanese community such as anti-Black sentiments and the embracing of capitalism while also being hospitable and generous. The Good Arabs examines race and class, gender and sexuality, and the experience of language all within the Lebanese diaspora...
Noura's Extraordinary Power with Reda Taleb
April 18, 2023 04:18 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seenjeempodcast/message
What Strange Paradise with Omar El Akkad
April 11, 2023 05:08 - 35 minutes - 49.1 MBIn 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-episod...
Y and Y and Jamila with Wessam Elmeligi
April 04, 2023 04:50 - 42 minutes - 58.3 MBIn this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews professor and author Wessam Elmeligi about his graphic novels Y and Y and Jamila. Written during the Arab Spring, Y and Y contrasts the innocence of childhood with the brutality of war. Jamila follows 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...
What I Know of the Mountains with Hajjar Baban
March 28, 2023 05:15 - 36 minutes - 49.7 MBSally Howell interviews award-winning poet Hajjar Baban about her chapbooks Relative to Blood and 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/se...
Girls That Never Die with Safia Elhillo
March 21, 2023 04:44 - 33 minutes - 45.5 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://pod...
Noura by Heather Raffo
March 14, 2023 05:50 - 37 minutes - 51.7 MBIn this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews Heather Raffo. Raffo is an award winning Iraqi-American playwright and performer. She discusses her various works such as 9 Parts of Desire, Fallujah: The First Opera about the Iraq War, and Noura. Raffo discusses the impact of her work on American audiences, such as the portrayal of Iraqi women as more than victims in 9 Parts, the non-linear and open-ended nature of Noura and Fallujah, and "ultimately, following the rhythm" of her own heart. ...
Bride of the Sea with Eman Quotah
March 07, 2023 22:26 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBIn this episode, Pauline Homsi Vinson interviews Eman Quotah about her novel, Bride of the Sea. Bride of the Sea follows 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://p...
A book with a hole in it with Kamelya Youssef
February 28, 2023 06:16 - 54 minutes - 74.9 MBSally 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 it is "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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.s...
The Wrong End of the Telescope with Rabih Alameddine
February 21, 2023 05:03 - 40 minutes - 55 MBOn 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, Sti...
Hadha Baladuna with Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine
February 14, 2023 13:03 - 45 minutes - 62 MBThe 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 wi...
I Was Their American Dream with Malaka Gharib
March 22, 2022 04:03 - 27 minutes - 38 MBOn 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-ghar...
A Pure Heart with Rajia Hassib
March 15, 2022 04:09 - 29 minutes - 40.2 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https...
A Pure Heart | Rajia Hassib
March 15, 2022 04:09 - 29 minutes - 40.2 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https...
Fugitive Atlas with Khaled Mattawa
March 01, 2022 05:07 - 42 minutes - 59.1 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seenjeempodcast/message
Hagar Poems and My Lover Brings Me Grapefruit with Mohja Kahf
February 22, 2022 05:02 - 39 minutes - 54.3 MBMohja 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...
Farah Rocks Fifth Grade with Susan Muaddi Darraj
February 15, 2022 05:38 - 38 minutes - 36 MBIn 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://seenjeempodca...
When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family's Forgotten History with Massoud Hayoun
February 08, 2022 05:14 - 43 minutes - 60.2 MBIn 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...
You Exist Too Much with Zaina Arafat
February 01, 2022 05:03 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seenjeempodcast/message
InsideOut with Alise Alousi
January 18, 2022 05:04 - 46 minutes - 64.2 MBIn 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcas...
The Tiny Journalist with Naomi Shihab Nye
January 11, 2022 05:11 - 36 minutes - 49.8 MBIn 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 w...
The Beauty of Your Face with Sahar Mustafah
January 04, 2022 05:21 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBIn 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 publis...
Silverworld with Diana Abu-Jaber
December 14, 2021 05:26 - 40 minutes - 55.7 MBAuthor 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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seenjeempodcast/message
These Trees, Those Leaves, This Flower, That Fruit by Hayan Charara
December 07, 2021 05:11 - 44 minutes - 61.2 MBHayan 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," an...
Love is an Ex-Country with Randa Jarrar
November 30, 2021 05:11 - 40 minutes - 55.4 MBIn 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.seenjeem...
Home is Not a Country with Safia Elhillo
November 16, 2021 05:00 - 46 minutes - 63.4 MBIn 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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcaster...
In Her Feminine Sign with Dunya Mikhail
November 09, 2021 05:00 - 31 minutes - 43.3 MBWelcome 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 retur...
Her Feminine Sign with Dunya Mikhail
November 02, 2021 16:57 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBWelcome 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 retur...