You are Invited

“Who Remembers?": 

Armenian-Palestinian Solidarities - A Reading

December 10th at 12:30 pm EST

Excited and honored to announce my inclusion in this virtual event and fundraiser for Palestine Legal and All for Armenia. Registration is required. This reading is co-sponsored by the International Armenian Literary Alliance, Armenian American Activist Network, Mizna, PalFest, and Radius of Arab American Writers, Inc. 

For more information and to register ---> Click here:

https://armenianliterary.org/armenian-palestinian-solidarities-reading/

 

"Sumud Motifs:

A Woven Inheritance

of Visual and Literary Storytelling"

Creatives:

Doris Bittar

Kassandra L. Khalil

Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán

Marguerite Dabaie

Micaela Kaibni Raen

Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA), Black, and Indigenous artists have innovatively combined literary and textual elements for millennia, rendering multicultural multimedia modalities to create engaging storytelling structures grounded in sumud. Womanist, Queer, and Trans creatives will share diverse geographies of identity and cultural memory. With powerful skill and emotional resonance, artists continue to push the boundaries of technology, re/writing literary/visual histories within the context of resistance, providing profound legacies with and for our communities. Inventive projects are inspiring social justice advocacy and the healing of multigenerational trauma.

This interactive multimedia collective craft talk showcases creatives working through multimedia projects, including comics and graphic narratives; movement, dance, and performance; interdisciplinary art installations; poetry written using Indigenous Tatreez patterns; text within decorative motifs; audio/video/visual poetics; and editing/publishing processes that combine visual and written work. Blending traditional techniques and modern composition methods, contemporary artists are producing highly crafted artwork engaging diverse audiences.

 For more information go to:

        https://arabamericanwriters.org/miznarawifest-2023/

Palestinian Tatreez Resource Page

Check out the Palestinian Tatreez Resource Page. Click on the page listing in the menu above.

The Palestinian Tatreez Resource page is meant to be a resource for people just beginning their Tatreez journey looking for a great place to start, or someone who has limited knowledge and is curious to find out more or for someone curious about their family legacy stitched in Tatreez. When googling the topic, many confusing and misleading websites can appear so I created this resource page as a safe place to start or continue your journey. It is a touchstone created out of love and care meant to bring you quality information.

Included on the resource page is a brief list of resources, organizations, and a print bibliography. This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive list. This is a free resource page is made from love specifically for the novice, the curious or someone who is looking for quality information. There are many groups, classes, collectives, indigenous artists (and sometimes the small stores that support them), indigenous charities, nonprofit empowerment programs, and more...that are not listed here. A good way to find them by starting with the resources listed on the Tatreez Resource page and then keep searching from there. Many of the websites list more resources for you to explore.  

There are also many Tatreez artists, groups, collectives, nonprofits, and much more on social media. They are not all listed here as this is meant to be a brief resource page. Researching artists and collectives, and following them on social media is a great way to learn more about their mission, art, and life. Be sure to also research your local area, there may be resources close by that you never knew existed. 

That said, if you have suggestions for the Palestinian Tatreez Resource page, please email me and I will consider for inclusion. This information comes from love and I hope it is helpful, timely and propels you on your journey. 

Re/Imagining Re/Thinking Re/Creating

Currently, I am an artist in residence 

at the Soaring Gardens Artists Retreat.

 

Thank you to the Ora Lerman Charitable Trust for 

giving me the opportunity to create 

poetry and visual art in such a beautiful environment. 

Great news! It is going to be a busy summer.

In addition to working on several poetry and art projects, I got awarded a residency this summer at Soaring Gardens in Pennsylvania.

If you are a writer, artist, musician, performance artist, and more...here is the website for information:
https://www.lermantrust.org/soaringgardens/

So excited to have dedicated time for research, writing, visual art and the act of creation. Meanwhile, I am working outside today on several new projects. Fueled by iced coffee, sunlight and a warm wind as it caresses the palm trees.

Poetry Reading...A Tribute Poem to Honor Our Drag and Trans Family

 See you in Seattle! 

AWP Conference 2023
Link to conference information:
https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/overview

Join us at this offsite event. I am honored to be a part of this event. I will be reading a poem dedicated to our Drag and Trans family.

I hope to see there! 

You can message me on Instagram @queertatreez

Come see me! #awp23

                                                           

See you in Seattle! 

AWP Conference 2023
Link to conference information:
https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/overview

You can find me at this session...  

Formal Resistance: Mixed-Genre/Transgenre/Multimedia of Color In(ter)ventions
Rooms 433-434, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4
Friday, March 10, 2023
12:10 pm to 1:25 pm

Link for more information on this session:

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/event_detail/24027

You can message me on Instagram @queertatreez

Palestinian Tatreez Resource Page

Check out the new Palestinian Tatreez Resource Page. 
Click on the page listing in the menu above. 

The Palestinian Tatreez Resource page is meant to be a resource for people just beginning their Tatreez journey, looking for a great place to start, or someone who has limited knowledge and is curious to find out more. When googling the topic, many confusing and misleading websites can appear so I created this page to be a safe place to start/continue your journey. It is a touchstone of both caring and quality information.

Included on the Palestinian Tatreez Resource page is a brief list of resources, organizations, buying tips and a print bibliography. This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive list. This is a free resource that is made from love specifically for the novice, the curious or someone who is looking for quality information. There are many groups, classes, collectives, indigenous artists (and sometimes the small stores that support them), indigenous charities, nonprofit empowerment programs, and more...that are not listed here. A good way to find them by starting with the resources listed on the Tatreez Resource page and then keep searching from there. Many of the websites list more resources for you to explore.  

There are also many Tatreez artists, groups, collectives, nonprofits, and much more on social media. They are not all listed here as this is meant to be a brief resource page. Researching artists and collectives, and following them on social media is a great way to learn more about their mission, art, and life. Be sure to also research your local area, there may be resources close by that you never knew existed. 

That said, if you have suggestions for the Palestinian Tatreez Resource page, please email me and I will consider for inclusion. This information comes from love and I hope it is helpful, timely and propels you on your journey. 

AWP 2023

See you in Seattle! 

AWP Conference 2023

Link to conference information:

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/overview

You can find me at this session...  

Formal Resistance: Mixed-Genre/Transgenre/Multimedia of Color In(ter)ventions
Rooms 433-434, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4
Friday, March 10, 2023
12:10 pm to 1:25 pm

Link for more information on this session:

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/event_detail/24027

You can message me on Instagram @queertatreez

2023: An Amazing Year Ahead

An amazing and productive year ahead! I am developing my first poetry manuscript and working on several short new memoir pieces. It will be filled with creativity and many new literary/artistic works. 

In March, I will be presenting at AWP literary conference (www.awpwriter.org) in Seattle on the panel “Formal Resistance: Mixed- Genre/Transgenre/Multimedia of Color In(ter)ventions.” There will be a powerhouse of artists presenting and I hope to see you there. 

Later in the year, I will be launching a new website that will include amazing Artists Resource Pages with free downloads to spark creativity! Made for literary artists, visual artists, and creatives of all kinds. Yes, resources at no cost! On the resource page, you will find specially designed journal pages that will tempt you to write when you are supposed to be doing something else. Yes, they are that good! Creative writing prompt worksheets will give you lots to contemplate. The downloads will not only inspire you to be creative but also get organized with creative calendars, timeline projectors and project listing forms. Not to mention, sharing my personal Spotify playlist for creatives to listen to while they are creating.

Other plans include:

 • Read and research creative structures for memoirs.

 • Complete the curation of historical items for the LGBTIQ archives donation.

 • Continue studying Palestinian Tatreez, an Indigenous Arab form of embroidery. 

• Adabiyat Book Club

 • Attend the OutSummit 2023 (Outright International https://outrightinternational.org/ )

 • And many other exciting activities, that I will announce as the plans become reality.

Thank you for letting me share this year with you.