"I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night" in Clemson Arts Centre

I can pretty much die happy, now. Yesterday morning, I got an email. After I read it, I was trying not to shriek. It said:

Hello,

The City of Clemson, South Caronlina is working on a public arts initiative where poems will be displayed at buildings and landmarks throughout the city. The Clemson Art Center would like to display your poem, "I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night", in their building. Do you know who I should contact about acquiring permission to display this poem?

Andy
Program Manager

Of course, I wrote back giving full permission for the poem to be used. Then, last night, I got another email. It made me absolutely estastic. It read as follows:

Hi Laala,

My name is Deborah and I am the Director for the Arts Center in Clemson, SC. I just received an email from Andy stating that you have given us permission to use your poem. Thank you so much! We had sifted through many, many poems and yours was just perfect for our needs!

Let me explain a little bit about how the center will be displaying your poem: We will be painting "I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night" on the walls of our gallery and asking up to 25 artists to interpret your poem in any medium on an 8"x8" canvas to be hung with your poem. We are asking anyone that visits the gallery to write a poem, draw a picture or interpret your poem on white cards that we will then hang from the gallery ceiling. This will be an interactive exhibit centered around your poem.

We would like to extend a personal invitation for you to join our closing reception and if you're not able to attend we would be happy to take photos of the event and exhibit for you.

Thank you again, Laala!

Deborah
Arts & Education Director

I am just unbelievably happy to be recognized in such a huge way. I hope I make it there, but SC quite a distance away. Either way, I'm thrilled with it all. Possibly best piece of news I've ever heard. :)

Review in "Time Out"

Behind the Mask: A Folded Heart
Laala Kashef Alghata

Prolific author Laala Kashef Alghata releases her second book, the follow-up to successful novel Friendship in Knots. The Bahraini writer opts for a poetry and prose collection this time, delving into her vast pool of material to put together Behind the Mask. It's a remarkable collection, crammed with a mixture of upbeat, introspective, sombre and celebratory poems about life, love, work and everything in the middle. Each piece feels painstakingly crafted, distilled down to its purest essence. Emotions range from the contemplative - 'Welcome to Limbo. We're all dead in this city' - in City of Limbo to the optimistic - 'Live, breathe, and forget how to curse, for a mere moment' in Just This Moment. Of course, it is not possible to scratch the surface of the variety and depth of this collection in just two extracts, by far the best way to convey such a message is to urge you to track down a copy of the collection for yourself. Each word feels like it has been tried and tested, selected only because it expresses the exact message of the author. Such attention to detail results in a truly remarkable collection, doubly impressive given Laala was 16 when it was published. Her work belies her youth and reveals a maturity of language that is a pleasure to experience.

It's a great review, I'm really happy with it.

"Loneliness: A Mental Indisposition" in Pens on Fire

Two poems of mine, Loneliness: A Mental Indisposition and Together are in Feburary's issue of Pens on Fire.
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I am now also one of the Poets in Spotlight at Asian American Poetry. Link to profile below.
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