It was wonderful talking to Amal Kassir about her new poetry collection Scud Missile Blues. Watch the recording for powerful pieces of poetry and reflections from a Syrian point of view that give a better understanding of the complexities of the situation and the realities on the ground. You can sign up for future free online poetry book reading events with Muslim poets here.
Scud Missile Blues
In her debut poetry collection, Amal Kassir plunges the reader into the ancient legacy and the modern tragedy of Syria. This collection explores utter loss and hope, and tells the tale of not just a nation, but a family who loved their land and their people. This is a story of light and darkness; grief and love; living and fighting to live. Through vetoes and sieges, insomnia and burnt dinner tables, this book is an ode to the resilience of the Syrian people and all they survived without losing their humanity, the most sacred light left in this war-torn world.
This book was written over the course of a young activist’s journey from raised-fist revolution to the Palmyra dungeons of despair. Every time Kassir thought she was finished, a refugee child would wash up on the world’s shores or an airstrike would hit a family member’s home. But over the 5 years of writing this book, Kassir pushes through darkness with the absolute determination that hope will be found, no matter how brutal the story gets, no matter how subtle the hope may be. The journey through Scud Missile Blues is like that of a walking refugee; you must keep going on this journey through what seems like the end of humanity itself.
It is only through the collective memory of mankind that we can breathe life back into those whose stories are muffled by rubble and death counts. This book is a testament to the Syrian people’s story, a shared witnessing. And as a more tangible way to serve the people we hold space for in this book, 100% of all profits of this book will be donated to the next generation of Syrian children. Visit amalkassir.com to learn about our projects.
Amal Kassir is a Syrian American poet, born and raised in Denver Colorado to an Arab father and an American convert mother. She has performed & taught in 13 countries and cities all over, in venues ranging from orphanages to refugee camps to youth prisons to churches. At the University of Colorado Denver, she designed her own undergraduate major, titled Community Programming in Social Psychology, where she has been able to create programs for a range of causes and people. She is currently a youth mentor, a writing teacher, and a traveling poet. She is the founder of House of Amal, an online writing community that sits at the intersection of creativity, introspection and literature. She is also the program manager of the Mental Wellness Program for Muslim Youth for Positive Impact in Colorado, working to create access and dismantle the stigma around mental health in the Muslim Community.
