Poetry Reading, Book Sale and Signing by Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul & Alma Nizam at the Jamestown Community College Cutco Theater, 260 N. Union St., Olean, 7pm.
Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul is a Syrian poet and psychiatrist. He was born in Lattakia, Syria, in 1983, and currently is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts. He published his first poetry collection in Arabic in 2008: فتّاحة الأمل المعلّب (The Opener of Canned Hope). His second collection was released in 2017 طيور تدخن الماريوانا (Birds Smoking Marijuana) at Al-Moutawasset publishing; Milano, Italy. His first English book of poetry, The Chronicler of Indifference, will be released in Spring 2018 in the U.S. by Červená Barva Press. He has also published translations of American poetry in Arabic literary magazines and journals. He is the founder of the ta’sheeq project that presents Syrian poetry in a multi-sensory experience in readings and art with musical accompaniment.
Alma Nizam is a Syrian poet. She is part of the ta’sheeq poetry collaborative project. She was born in Paris, France in 1987, and graduated pharmacy school in Syria in 2010. Her debut poems appeared in (O2publishingأوكسجين) magazine in 2016. She has been featured in many poetry readings in the U.S., most recently in the National Translation Month in September 2017.
With his skill as a psychiatrist, Dr. Hussam Jefee-Bahloul is reaching out to the troubled people of his Syrian homeland, offering guidance for health workers who work with mental health issues in a population traumatized by war.
