With the Arab Spring sending international shockwaves through the cultural landscape, it's worth remembering that certain touchstones remain eternal. For a beautiful case in point, consider the verse of Iman Mersal.
Hailed as one of the Arabic languages best young poets, Mersal holds two degrees from universities in her native Egypt, including an MA from Cairo University. She edited several literary review magazines and a feminist journal in her home country before coming to the United States and Canada, where she is currently asstant professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Alberta. Since then her verse, which bristles with taut assertions even as it balms with its beauty, has been translated into numerous languages.
The very definition of poetry, it's often said, is that which cannot be translated. Even so, poetry is considered so vital to Arabic culture-from the Quran on up-that there's no shame in settling for second best. Mersal will present a free reading of her works 7 p.m. tonight, as part of Westminster College's Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Poetry Series, inside the campus' Gore School of Business Auditorium. For a sample of Mersal's work, visit www.jehat.com/Jehaat/en/Poets/ImanMersal.htm.
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