{"title":"Hedy Habra","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-taste-of-the-earth","title":"The Taste of the Earth","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe poems in \u003cem\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/em\u003e weave together personal history with the complex cultural heritage of Hedy Habra's countries of origin. Steeped in memories, loss and longing, these poems invite the reader to revisit Egypt's mythical past and Lebanon's turmoil, recalling the intersecting roots of culture and language in an act of artistic recollection that bridges time and space. Through the lyrical power of the senses, Habra's poems bring to life scenes of strife and upheaval as well as profound joy. Such images linger in the mind and keep evolving in search for the permanence of beauty within suffering as they are evoked by trees, houses, fountains and familiar objects, each voice offering with its testimony a broader perspective on the interconnectedness of worlds and universality of emotions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003econtains numerous histories--from Egypt's distant past to the Lebanese Civil War to the Arab Spring--though history is not \"the straight line that accompanies silence.\" These poems confess that image can hide the smell of blood and the smell of jasmine, both the terrible and the sweet in the story of a place. Habra also teaches us that it is not just language and maps that tell history, but that objects carry what they have witnessed, the truths they are waiting to speak. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Traci Brimhall, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSaudade\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Diane Seuss, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eStill Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese are a painter's poems, sensuous and filled with scenes under the surface. In her journey, Hedy Habra digs into the roots to find stories of wisdom. What's special about these stories is that, even though they are painful, their exotic flavor is of earth, which belongs to everyone. They wander through memory and, image by image, settle in the soul \"as sand in an hourglass.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Dunya Mikhail, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eIn Her Feminine Sign\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYou may be sitting in your favorite chair at home when you begin to read Hedy Habra's latest collection of poems, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, but that's not where you'll be. You'll be in Damascus, Heliopolis, Beirut, Aleppo. Before you know it, as if dreaming, you'll be gliding along the streets of these cities, listening to their sounds, overhearing bits of conversation. Born in Egypt, Habra is part of the diaspora of Middle Easterners compelled to leave lands they love due to war and upheaval. There is longing for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ehome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in every sense of the word--for a place, a person, a taste, a story, a particular light, a language, a gesture, a laugh. It is this longing that makes these poems universal, regardless of where you are as you read them. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Susan Azar Porterfield, winner of the Cider Press Review Editor's Prize for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eDirt, Root, Silk\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hedy Habra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44220798009386,"sku":"9781950413096","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/the-taste-of-the-earth-4913585.jpg?v=1775063784"},{"product_id":"under-brushstrokes","title":"Under Brushstrokes","description":"\u003cp\u003eHedy Habra's \u003cem\u003eUnder Brushstrokes\u003c\/em\u003e is a rich tapestry of images, sounds and meanings. Like any tapestry the complexity of weaving, the craft and artistry are often under or subliminal to the larger images, and in this way the book lives up to its title in that there is so much foundation that goes into the building of an image and giving the image not only meanings but breath and life itself. Enjoy \u003cem\u003eUnder Brushstrokes\u003c\/em\u003e, it is meant to be read and read again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-J.P. Dancing Bear, Editor, \u003cem\u003eThe American Poetry Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe poems in Hedy Habra's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eUnder Brushstrokes\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e amount to something more sweeping than simple ekphrasis. She makes no attempt to describe works of art, but instead uses them as points of departure for explorations of the dreaming psyche. The resulting meditations, often adopting the genre of prose poetry, retain the colorful imagery we expect in visual art, expressed in a language as precise as it is vivid. One senses throughout a constructive awareness of literary and artistic culture in several traditions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--Alfred Corn, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eTables\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the poem \"Brushstrokes,\" Hedy Habra writes \"the painter raises inexorably the level of the waters, and the woman knows... she will only be fulfilled by drowning in the torrent.\" The poems, in verse and prose, in Habra's new collection, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eUnder Brushstrokes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, pay homage to the transformative power of art in the most authentic way possible--by demonstrating it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Stuart Dybek author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEcstatic Cahoots\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eand \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ePaper Lantern\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eUnder Brushstrokes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is an astonishing collection of poems responding to art. Through Habra's accomplished pen, these ekphrastic poems create an immediate world of rich textures and image, giving the reader intimate access to such diverse talents as Klimt, Guccione, Bosch, Tanning, and Hokusai. She explores... the layered connections between the individual and art itself. These are poems of depth and skill, of beauty and paradox, of \"words suffused \/ in linseed oil,\" as Habra writes--a marvel of a work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--Sam Rasnake, editor of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBlue Fifth Review\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hedy Habra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44220798074922,"sku":"9781941209233","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/under-brushstrokes-7019931.jpg?v=1775063783"},{"product_id":"or-did-you-ever-see-the-other-side","title":"Or Did You Ever See The Other Side?","description":"\u003cp\u003eInternationally acclaimed ekphrastic poet Hedy Habra's most recent collection is luminous and powerful in its exploration of women and art. Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? turns on a superb and often spellbinding use of anaphora exploring artists, muses and creative practice. Reminiscent of Anne Carson's Short Talks, Habra composes poems as alternatives including on topics such as Half-Open Doors, Hot Flashes, Heartbeats, Fractals, Lovers' Encounters on TV Shows, Ciphers, and Keys. These ultimately culminate in the question, \"Or What Is Life If Not A Constant Carving Of Oneself?\" Using diverse sources including art from Remedios Varo, Shiharu Shiota, and Wadada Leo Smith, this is poetry as \"mobilis in mobile,\" expressing haunting and indelible feminist voicings of women in art. -Cassandra Atherton, Professor of Writing and Literature, Melbourne, Australia\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEvery Hedy Habra poem is a jewel of ekphrasis. She takes us deep into magic in these elegant, stunning poems. She layers language in a way that dances between brushstrokes, connecting words and images but also hearts and mystery. Habra shows us how art is an infinite world of possibilities. A dazzling collection. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Lorette C. Luzajic, editor, The Ekphrastic Review, author of The Rope Artist and Winter in June\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOr Did You Ever See The Other Side? weaves a mystery about a mystery-the yearning and its fulfillment (or not) of any lived life. Here, it's the life of a woman whose exquisite artist's sensibility enables her to escape a repressive paternalistic tradition. \"It took me a while \/ to wake up from \/ a life not lived\" she says in \"Or Did You Think I'd Never Find The Way Out?\" As mercurial as life, the titles of these accomplished pantoums, free verse, and prose poems all begin with that elusory and disjunctive \"or,\" and most are interrogatory, asking but not answering the big questions. They cast the subtle fabric of human aspiration against reality's loom, making art that holds it all. \"I am drawing a keyhole \/ to find my way \/ out of my own cell,\" the speaker says. Reading that, and this moving book, puts a pen-and a keyhole-into the hand of the reader, as well. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Rebecca Foust, author of ONLY and Paradise Drive\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this extraordinary new collection, Hedy Habra weaves a marvelous life tapestry through dreams and the language of memory- \"the right words thrown \/ pell-mell in the folds of memory.\" These ekphrastic poems are not content to interpret painting and music but transcend the border between poet and art. Habra explores each piece from multiple angles to discover its locked heart: \"See how colors arise from heartbeats.\" Then she searches for a key, but there is never only one key. Each poem asks a question that invites the reader to see another perspective, then another. This collection is kaleidoscopic, stunning, and wrings a haunting beauty from every brushstroke and musical note. \u003cem\u003eOr Did You Ever See The Other Side?\u003c\/em\u003e \"soars without wings,\" taking the reader on a journey into its breathtaking dreamscape. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Luanne Castle, author of \u003cem\u003eRooted\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWinged and Doll God\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEvery Hedy Habra poem is a jewel of ekphrasis. She takes us deep into magic in these elegant, stunning poems. She layers language in a way that dances between brushstrokes, connecting words and images but also hearts and mystery. Habra shows us how art is an infinite world of possibilities. A dazzling collection. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Lorette C. Luzajic, editor, \u003cem\u003eThe Ekphrastic Review\u003c\/em\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Rope Artist and Winter in June\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eOr Did You Ever See The Other Side?\u003c\/em\u003e weaves a mystery about a mystery-the yearning and its fulfillment (or not) of any lived life. Here, it's the life of a woman whose exquisite artist's sensibility enables her to escape a repressive paternalistic tradition. \"It took me a while \/ to wake up from \/ a life not lived\" she says in \"Or Did You Think I'd Never Find The Way Out?\" As mercurial as life, the titles of these accomplished pantoums, free verse, and prose poems all begin with that elusory and disjunctive \"or,\" and most are interrogatory, asking but not answering the big questions. They cast the subtle fabric of human aspiration against reality's loom, making art that holds it all. \"I am drawing a keyhole \/ to find my way \/ out of my own cell,\" the speaker says. Reading that, and this moving book, puts a pen-and a keyhole-into the hand of the reader, as well. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-Rebecca Foust, author of \u003cem\u003eONLY\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eParadise Drive\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hedy Habra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44220798140458,"sku":"9781950413690","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/or-did-you-ever-see-the-other-side-1817079.jpg?v=1775063782"},{"product_id":"tea-in-heliopolis","title":"Tea in Heliopolis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"The poems of Tea in Heliopolis form the story of a family, sometimes tragic, sometimes searingly beautiful, and always exotic, seen through the eyes of a painter. The trope of life, as moments flowing from the paintbrush wielded skillfully by a poet, allows Hedy Habra to capture details redolent of old masters, exquisite and visceral, and creates her remembered world with the wild imagination and color of a Van Gogh. Moving through life in Egypt, to Beirut, then to America, with a kind of post-Newtonian sense of everything happening simultaneously, the chronicle captures the bravery it takes to remember and yet experience a beauty transcendent to pain. This is a remarkable book of poetry.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-Diane Wakowski, author of Emerald Ice\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHedy Habra's hospitable poems, lush with intricate landscapes of\u003cbr\u003erelating and remembering, are so rich they make me homesick. Here are worlds, both ancient and modern, spun and sung in shining\u003cbr\u003ewonder.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e--Naomi Shihab Nye\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eTransfer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEgypt to Lebanon to the freshwater coastline of Michigan, Hedy\u003cbr\u003eHabra's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eTea in Heliopolis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a collection full of ancestral gestures,\u003cbr\u003esensual imaginings, and songs turning unerringly into legend. Shapely,\u003cbr\u003etimeless lyrics that range from continent to continent, past to present...\u003cbr\u003eHabra has a knack of turning phrases that make us reconsider our own place\u003cbr\u003eon earth. And in a prodigious and moving poem like \"Raoucheh,\" she gives\u003cbr\u003evoice to a forcibly silenced people as only a true poet can. This is a\u003cbr\u003enecessary and rhapsodic book of poems.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e--Ravi Shankar\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eInstrumentality\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eTea in Heliopolis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is an irresistible book, offering poems of exquisite charm and sensibility. Both cinematic and painterly, moving across vast swaths of ancient geography... With her wise and compassionate language she invites us to understand and share their lives. Cavafy and Adonis come to mind, but Habra is a poet uniquely herself. Led by her masterly pen we cannot help but respond to her invitation. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eTea in Heliopolis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e takes you on a voyage richly textured with Old World mystery and New World urgency.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e--Pablo Medina\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCubop City Blues\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hedy Habra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44220798205994,"sku":"9781935708766","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/tea-in-heliopolis-1431272.jpg?v=1775063782"}],"url":"https:\/\/thepoetryshop.com\/collections\/hedy-habra.oembed","provider":"The Poetry Shop LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}