At Arab Canada newspaper, we work to be a bridge of communication among members of the Arab community, and therefore we support any work that contributes to introducing the community members to each other and highlighting their successful models to be an inspiring motivation for others..

Today we meet Mrs. Suheir Mahmoud Al-Laham, a Palestinian writer residing in the Canadian capital, Ottawa..

First, we welcome you, Ms. Suheir, and we ask you to introduce yourself to the readers..

I am proud that my name is associated with my father's name because he is the one who deserves credit for what I am.. I am proud that the sound of his name always delights my ears.. If you ask me about age, age is not the number of years and how many days have passed, age is whether you have reached what you dreamed of? Have I achieved my goal.. Here my age is complete as I like.

Reading is my homeland, and writing is my soul, and through them I live and breathe.. I am not a poet or a writer; I am a woman who loves to play letters
on the strings of your hearts, sometimes a cloud raining drops of love abundantly upon you, and other times a spike reviving bodies worn out by emotions..
I am a pen that does not bow, my temperament is kindness and my adornment is honesty.. I dance with your feelings to the music of the flute, and I dwell between your ribs in a dreamy nap, diving with it into the depths of your treasures..

My dream is to be a constructive individual in society, and I aspire to be a good role model for future generations, and my ambition in life is to be a mother her children are proud of..

How did you find the experience of immigration and moving to Canada? Certainly there are sacrifices and challenges, tell us about your experience?

Immigration is a difficult experience with many challenges and sacrifices, especially when we move to countries different from our own in customs and traditions.. It is the estrangement of a homeland.. the estrangement from family and loved ones, the estrangement of the soul because a person loses the most important part of himself, which is his soul.. He loses many memories that he will no longer exist in, he loses the pleasure of enjoying every joyful thing with family.. In estrangement, we lose safety, tranquility, and the embrace of loved ones in difficult times..

And to be fair, estrangement has another bright side, as our presence abroad refines our personality and makes us stronger, and we gain important life lessons..

I thank God for the decision of immigration that we took for the benefit of the children and their future.. Among the challenges I faced in estrangement was my distance from the cultural scene in which I was active, as I used to attend and participate in many literary evenings, as you know the cultural scene in the diaspora is inactive, due to the presence of a clique that contributed to scattering efforts and not enriching the cultural scene in the diaspora, in addition to people's lack of interest in cultural aspects perhaps due to life's pressures.. Also, my move to a new country and establishing a new life had a direct impact on my hobbies, especially reading, which I consider an important source for my literary output.

When did you start writing poetry and literary reflections, and how were your early beginnings.. Did you receive encouragement and support in your literary journey?

I started writing when I was nineteen years old, and it was just short reflections, but my real beginning was in 2010 following the death of my brother at a young age, may God have mercy on him. His death had a great impact on me and writing helped alleviate my grief and pain.. At first, I kept all my writings to myself, then I started publishing them on social media and received a lot of encouragement from my father, mother, husband, and father-in-law who is a distinguished poet and proficient in the Arabic language. Then I participated in several poetry evenings and also recorded many texts with my voice on the Warm Words program on Saqeefa Al-Mawasem Radio in Jordan.

Tell me more about your radio experience and the Warm Words program, how was it, and are you thinking of reviving this experience here in Canada?

The Warm Words program broadcast on Saqeefa Al-Mawasem Radio is a rich and wonderful experience that I cherish, and I consider it my little child whom I love very much.. From here, I send a big greeting to Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Rimawi, the owner of the Saqeefa Al-Mawasem website and radio, for he is credited with bringing this program to light. He encouraged me to present my first evening at Amman Theater in addition to other evenings. He offered me his expertise especially in the way of recitation.. Thanks to his guidance, advice, and constructive criticism, I learned a lot, so all thanks and appreciation to his kind person.

What is the literary style closest to yourself with which you can convey your feelings to the reader? And what are the sources of inspiration that motivate Suheir’s pen?

In my opinion, there is no specific literary style in which we express our feelings; writing is a sincere feeling and a dreamy vision that expresses the heartbeat. Writing is an imagination we live as reality to find safety, peace, and pure love.. Writing is words and letters that draw beautiful colors on a blank canvas to become a scene we enjoy..

In most of my writings, love plays a big role because it is the only feeling that makes you feel happiness, tranquility, and psychological calm. I write about love in all its forms and leave the reader space to interpret it as they want; love is not limited to romantic love between a man and a woman.. It can be interpreted as love for a homeland, for a beloved, for a child, or for a friend..

Usually when I write, I do not think about what I will write because I write as a result of a certain inspiration. An event, story, word, a line from a song, a specific memory may stir my feelings. Nature also has the biggest share, especially the sea. Sometimes a painting inspires me, and many of my writings were linked to a painting I liked.

Have you published your literary works? And if asked to choose a text for us, what would you choose?

Yes, I have published two poetry collections (Midnight Confession – Come, Let's Steal Love), and I have many texts that have not been printed yet.. I choose for you the text "Tide and Ebb"

A new year is approaching
Its tide is without ebb
And its ebb extends without hope
And the wave in it is confused
Shy, modest, bashful

Mutable, transformed, discontent
Bored with changing colors
In a shifting corner

A new year is approaching
Its sky is gloomy and frowning
And its cloud is a gloomy contributor
Holding its rain is barren

A new year is approaching
And we in it are like shadows
On its sands, we dismount

Our breaths are frightened, terrified
Between a sob and a gasp, we panic

A new year is approaching
And our eyes are watching
A glimmer of hope awaiting
May the light in it
Restore to us what we once had

We have God, O nation that has begun to plead
That this nightmare ends
Without us suffocating
Without us burning

We have God

I know you are a voracious reader and books are very important to you.. Tell us about the types of books in your library, and what is the book that left an imprint in the conscience of Suheir the writer and the human? And what is culture in your view?

My library contains all kinds of books because I love reading about everything; there are philosophical books which are closest to my heart, romantic and social books. An intellectual must not restrict their readings to a specific genre because we need every piece of information that can enrich our taste. I see culture not merely as reading or writing, but as behavior and morals. There is a culture of love, a culture of humanity, and a social culture. Culture goes hand in hand with morals and must be reflected in our behaviors. There is a culture of comforting others, a culture of restraint, a culture of dialogue and choosing the appropriate words in every situation, and a culture of helping others. Culture has a big role in our lives: culture in raising children, culture of the wife in managing her household.. Culture cannot be acquired only through academic degrees but requires experience and understanding of life.