Big poems from a small town
10 Oct 2024 | 17:00 UTC
Two Arab poets, Rayya Liebich & Zaynab Mohammed, share their words and reflections on how the genocide in Palestine and the war in Lebanon has radicalized and influenced their art from a small town in "canada".
Rayya Liebich (she/her) is an award-winning Canadian writer and educator of Lebanese and Polish descent. Passionate about writing as a tool for transformation and changing the discourse on grief, she teaches creative writing classes to youth, and adults in Nelson, British Columbia.
Zaynab Mohammed is an award-winning performance poet. She was born on the coast of BC Canada, to immigrant parents fleeing war torn countries. She is Iraqi, Lebanese and Palestinian. The countries her parents grew up in, the cultures her family carries, the language of her grandmothers, the smell of tea and the taste of sweets, are what root Zaynab in her being. She pays homage to her ancestors, that carry her heavy heart, as she weaves stories and poems to share with the world. Inspired by her family’s hardships. Australia.
Zaynab Mohammed is an award-winning professional performance poet. She was born on the coast of BC Canada, to immigrant parents fleeing war torn countries.
Inspired by the hardships her family has endured, her writing touches on what is possible in the realms of healing and creating new ways forward.
She is a visionary creative who has been healing herself through the written word, by sharing her story and by giving her audience reflections into self-love and self-empowerment.
She is currently producing her first ever one-woman show titled, "Are You Listening?" It is informed and inspired from 47 interviews she conducted with her local community in the spring and summer of 2022, asking participants the same 6 questions. Her questions were to better understand and learn the art of listening; to ourselves, to each other and to the Earth.
Poetry is integral to Zaynab's lifestyle. She started Poem Booth in 2014 while hitchhiking across Canada. She hosts the Nelson Poetry Slam and performs at various events in her region and provincially.
Zaynab currently lives and works in Nelson BC with her dog Threshold.