A Date With A Literary Scholar (-Refaat Alareer)

Last Monday, we had a seminar with Refaar Alareer, who came far from Palestine to share about his experiences in writing poetry. He was indeed an amazing poet even though he wasn't a poet as his profession. His love for John Donne's and T.S Elliot's writing styles have inspired him to compose more poetries in terms of the uses of  literary devices, like metaphors and similes. The uses of metaphors and similes can be dominantly found in his favorite poem such as "And We Live On" and "I am You". His inspiration was solely created from his sense of patriotism towards Gaza and his sympathy towards the war as well as inequality in Gaza. I was quite touched and sympathies of his country's sufferings as a result of the conflicts between the Jews and the Islams for 50 years. As a result, it makes me come to realize that poetries sometimes do tell us real life stories, which can be clearly exemplified in those previous poetries and prose that have been composed by well-known poets in the history of English Literature. His determination towards establishing English Literature in Gaza, has created an awareness for myself of the importance of knowing current issues in different countries before placing any bias judgement towards the given unknown situation. This is because most of the public media are controlled by the government themselves in order to create a positive ideology of their own governmental systems. As we know, current issues in the newspapers may be telling lies and rumors which are untrue. Therefore, a deep understanding in literature is a plus point for the readers to be more rational in deliberating our thoughts and more empathy towards the sufferings of the country in Gaza.

Throughout the whole seminar, I have learnt that:

-Writing poetry is to defend ourselves based on our personal experiences in our real life. Therefore, it can  break the social gap by using English as a medium of writing. This is to create an awareness for the readers about the current issues that happening in the other country. Hence, the reader will gain new knowledges from the speaker of the poem.

- Writing in English without using their mother language is to encourage them to master their English Language and learn to be more independent without depending any translator, especially in those countries which embrace their mother tongue. (For instance, poet like Rafeef Ziadah who wrote "We teach life, sir") 

Q&A Session:

1. The question given by Maya: What kind of style of writing which are usually used in Gaza?
Refaat Alareer said that the style of writing depends on the speaker's personal experiences with his or her surroundings.

For instance,

Refaat Alareer's style of writings is based on:

a) His personal experiences

b) Love for his country

-Being a writer of poetry composition, you can be anyone in the story regardless of your personal experiences, or any encounters you have met in life.And he said, " Everybody is unique in their own way in expressing poetry." For example, in the poem "Over the Wall" by Refaat Alareer,he may be the nephew or niece of the "grandma" on the bombing scene.

2. Another question was being asked about the symbolism of olive oil which was conveyed in Refaat's blog through pictures and poetries:
He said that , olive oil symbolizes the interaction between man and land, which is known as his uprooted homeland. It was used for medicinal purposes to heal skin problems in their everyday life. The olive seeds are only planted in Gaza. Therefore, it displayed a connection of the historical background of Gaza and the Palestinians' residency for the past 50 years.

3. How do a poet write about the feeling or suffering of others? -
As a poet or a writer, we need to understand and know how to put ourself on the positions of everyone.

Lastly, the secret recipe behind his success in writing poetry is not a secret after all:

1. Read a lot of good and high quality poetry

2. Believe that you can write good stuff

-Getting yourself into believing you can do it

3. Have the will to do so.

-By writing English poems.

4. Scribble your thoughts.

5. Imitate

-By listening to the poets reciting their poems

6. Be Yourself.

-To project your self-empathy. 

For more interesting readings about Refaat Alareer's poetry, log on to http://thisisgaza.wordpress.com/

(Taken from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKucPh9xHtM)