Two Poets Read Their Poems At Library

Two poets, Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah, offered readings of their works and signed books at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Wednesday evening.

Persis Karim, an English professor who teaches creative writing at San Jose State University, said the event, which was sponsored by the San Jose State Center for Literary Arts and Poetry Center of San Jose and was free and open for the general public, was a success with a good student turnout, roughly 100 students.

Karim, who assisted with the setup of the reading event, said she met the writers at a writer’s conference and was impressed by their literal works.

“I think it is important to hear the words of the writers,” said Karim, who familiarized Charara and Joudah’s works to her students.

She said that event was important because it brought exposure to the poets and the literacy program on SJSU.

Marisa Gomez, a sophomore political science major at SJSU, also attended and enjoyed the event.

Gomez, who attended the past reading events such at the Mark Dotty event, said she liked how there are two poets instead one reading their works.

She also said that it was great that the readings were held in the library because it had a lot of space.

Joudah said he also considered the reading event a success.

“It’s always a good thing,” Joudah said about the setup and turnout of the event.

Joudah, author of the poetry collection “The Earth in the Attic”, which won the 2007 Yale Younger Poets Award, met Charara after editing Joudah’s anthology.

Charara, who authored two poetry collections, “The Sadness of Others” and “The Alchemist’s Diary”, read several of his poems, such as “My Father’s Pornography”, “You” and “Starved Dogs Eating Snow”.

Charara, who also edited “Inclined to Speak: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry”, wrote controversial poems about war, death, and his experiences.

He said that poetry kept him sane during some of the hard times in his life.

Charara, a Lebanese-American who lives in Detriot and still has family in Lebanon, he had writer’s block that lasted for almost a year.

Joudah, who is also a translator of poet Mahmound Darwish’s “The Butterfly’s Burden”, read his poems “Pulse”, “Morning Ritural” and “Poem” at the event.

He said does not write Arabic though he can translate it.

Joudah said he was also glad he can influence future creative writers.

“Sometimes it is something that somebody says,” he said about gaining an inspiration to write.

He also said ideas and images in his head helped him some of the poems that he read at the event.

Gomez, who loved Charara’s poem about the dead dogs, said she would encourage everyone to come to the next library reading events.

Karim, who considered the poets performance “powerful” at the reading, said it is great experience to hear the poets read their poems out loud because it brings their words to life.

Joudah is currently thinking about working on a new translation for his future project.

Ethical Scenarios

Scenario 1

I would ask her about the documents. That would be the proper way because is she were to explain it, and let us read it, then we can official quote the her as the source.

If we take them or read them, we can't official attribute to it because the method that we used is unethical.


Scenario 2

I would not do it because secretly disguising myself and taking a manipulative role is unethical. In order to do it right, I must ask the nursing home if I can go inside and report what is going on inside the home.

If the nursing home declines my request, I can ask for testimonials from past residents that are no longer affiliated with the place. Also, if the authorities get involved, I cause use them to get some official about the home.


Scenario 3


You definitely must credit the source. They are the ones that did the reporting, and they are the ones that know if they quoted it correctly. Also, that quote could be an exclusive quote just for the source, so it is important to cite it correctly. And for some safety reasons, it would great if you asked them for permission to use their quotes.

For Web sites, I must also cite them correctly by crediting the Web site and the source. Also, for the Web site, it is important to get permission to use content from their site. Also, I must understand the credibility of a Web site. Citing from an inconsistent site such as wikipedia is not credible work.

Law & Ethics exercise (Play as Editor)

There are numerous libelous passages within the draft news story.

"Karen Hart, 123 Hill Hall, says the professor, George O.T. Jungle, has touched her during tutoring sessions in his office and has invited her to his apartment several times. She said she declined his invitations."

This part of the story contains a libelous content. By being narrowed to the sexual assailant to the exact person, George O.T. Jungle can not avoid the allegations even if they were not true. To change it, I would wait till the police booked him and was fairly tried and convicted guilty.

Karen Hart's personal allegations is not enough to make this story newsworthy. This story needs authority, witnesses, and official claims by the police and the court system.

I will never run this story in the newspaper. The only for it to be run is if it the police and court system got involved. Otherwise, this story can be false.

The worst possible scenario is if I ran this story and Professor Jungle sues my publication for libel.

AP Style Exercise (S-Z)

1) He thought of Smokey Bear every time he got near a smoldering fire or entered a smoky room.

2) The forecast is for lower temperatures, falling to the low 30s by tonight. If the rain continues, as expected, there could be a traveler's advisory.

3) To celebrate Veterans Day, the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, troops of former soldiers will march down Main Street carrying U.S. flags.

4) His weeklong ordeal will be finished when finals week is over. Until then, his well-being is in doubt.

5) A 19-year-old man was arrested Monday for carrying a Saturday night special without a permit. After being released on bond, he disappeared. His whereabouts is unknown.

6) She’d hoped to be able to trade in her car after getting a tuneup, but she totaled it last night.

7) Could you photocopy that invoice for me? I need it for our year-end budget.