Palestinian poet and scholar Mosab Abu Toha shares poems about longing for return to a place of hospitality and memory in Gaza. He explores themes of family, identity, and resilience through his reflective narrative. The podcast delves into the emotional journey of the poet and his family navigating challenges amidst geopolitical turmoil and conflict.
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Ibrahim Abu Lughod's Story
Mosab Abu Toha's poem likely conjures Ibrahim Abu Lughod, a prominent Palestinian figure.
Abu Lughod, born in 1929 in Yafa, fled in 1948 but returned later and is buried there.
insights INSIGHT
Reclaiming Language
Mosab Abu Toha recontextualizes verbs often used negatively against Palestinians.
He uses words like "draw", "step", and "calls" to reclaim Palestinian identity.
insights INSIGHT
The Crisis of Time
The poem's central conflict revolves around the measurement of time, not just the brothers' argument.
This highlights how differing perceptions of time complicate conflict resolution.
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In Mosab Abu Toha’s “Ibrahim Abu Lughod and brother in Yaffa,” two barefoot siblings on a beach sketch out a map of their former home in the sand and argue about what went where. Their longing for return to a place of hospitality, family, memory, friends, and even strangers is alive and tender to the touch.
Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, scholar, and librarian who was born in Gaza and has spent his life there. He is the founder of the Edward Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is his debut book of poems: it won an American Book Award and a 2022 Palestine Book Award, and was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry as well as the 2022 Walcott Poetry Prize. His writings from Gaza have appeared in The Nation and Literary Hub, and his poems have been published in Poetry, The Nation, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, Poetry Daily, and the New York Review of Books, among others.