Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies. Women's Studies. "Zeina Hashem Beck crafts a multifaceted portrait of the people and the streets of Beirut. Part love-letter, part elegy, Hashem Beck's debut collection keeps the city from becoming 'a shadow of a memory, / the memory of a shadow' for poet and reader both, offering us instead 'labyrinths / in which we get lost on purpose.' This collection is as vibrant and sensitive as its subject the city that 'understands / not being tired of being.' Join me in an enthusiastic welcome for a compelling new voice in Anglophone poetry." John Hennessy"

A contemporary woman makes complex negotiations with history and culture in a voice equally strong, discerning, God-soaked, and edgy--creating music out of personal longing and cultural tragedy. Hashem Beck's poems offer a lens through which to see life in the Middle East. They are timeless explorations of love, loss, and the poet's attempt to understand her own experience in the context of world events and the spiritual realities that permeate them.