ISSUED: 8 April 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Society for Creative Writing in the Department of English and Modern Languages presents Moroccan Beat poet El Habib Louai in latest installment of the AT HOME WITH POETRY series. Louai’s reading presentation is available on the Society for Creative Writing’s website.
El Habib Louai is the author of “Mrs. Jones Will Not Know: Poems of a Desperate Rebel” and “Rotten Wounds Embalmed with Tar,” which was a finalist for the 2020 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry. Louai traveled widely to meet some of the Beats, who were still alive at that time, and performed his poems at Moe’s Book in Berkeley, Oxford Modern Art Gallery, Spoken Word Paris, Tottenham Chances in London, and Exiled Writers Ink in London. Louai’s articles, poems, and Arabic translations of Beat poets have appeared in publications such as Big Bridge Magazine, Ragged Lion Press, Illanot Review, and Arab Lit Quarterly.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share the work of such a wonderful poet,” said Sadie Shorr-Parks, director, Society for Creative Writing. “Louai’s poetry embodies the best aspects of Beat poetry while remaining undeniably unique and contemporary.”
Upcoming installments of the AT HOME WITH POETRY series will feature Annie Kim, author of “Eros, Unbroken” and winner of the 2019 Washington Prize, and Hannah Dow, author of “Rosarium.”
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