“I push back against a deeply-entrenched tendency in American culture to label quickly and no longer even examine the labels that were initially stamped on a person. I don't have a problem with any of my "hyphenated" biography - I don't have any problem with that at all. The world would be a better place if our thread of hyphenation were truly embraced beyond mere naming and category.” IfsWorldPersonsProblemWould BeCultureMereTendenciesLabelsCategoriesThreadBiographiesBetter PlaceAmerican Culture Author:Fady Joudah
“One can say that the disaffection is still a lingering naiveté about, not the place of poetry in the world, but - how to say this - the moral and intellectual presence of poets in the world. And while this may seem an old conversation to many poets who roll their eyes and say, "Here we go again about the function of poetry," I think that conversation, about poetry as an engaged art in a world that is full of regression or still lacking in progress, is still really not well-developed. It's almost an avoided conversation.” ThinkingWorldWellsMayArtStillsSeemsEyeMoralProgressPoetConversationIntellectualFunctionEngagedLackingAvoidedLingeringRegressionHere We Go Again Author:Fady Joudah
“Poetry at large in America is naturally a reflection of the American system and culture. That's my possibly narrow view of it, or reductive view. But I think for as many portals for critical consciousness in the poetry world and in the American spirit that exist, there's also an over-arching, dominant mirroring, in poetry, of the corporate structure, the capitalist enterprise.” ThinkingWorldAmericaSpiritCultureViewsConsciousnessReflectionStructureCriticalCorporateEnterpriseCapitalistDominantPortalMirroringAmerican Spirit Author:Fady Joudah
