Throughout National Poetry Month, we will be interviewing poets here and spotlighting them on our Instagram and YouTube channel. We hope you enjoy!
Writer’s Atelier: Why did you want to start writing poetry?
Lana Ghannam: I wrote poetry on and off when I was growing up, but I really wanted to write novels. It was tough when my very first college workshop taught me that fiction was actually my weakest genre! However, in my first poetry workshop, I learned that my imagery and language were very strong. In fact, my first few published poems came from that poetry workshop. I haven’t looked back since!
WA: What’s your favorite poem (or poems!) that you’ve written and why?
LG: This sounds really juvenile, but I really enjoy my angry poetry. It’s a really proud moment for me every time I can successfully take a huge and unpredictable emotion like rage and put it into a sculpted piece of writing. Two pieces that come to mind are “Carnivore” about political America and “Nakba” about the on-going apartheid in Palestine.
WA: Who are some of your favorite poets? Why do you like their work?
LG: Naomi Shihab Nye is my go-to for powerful lines and relatability because she also has Palestinian roots. Fatimah Asghar and Kaveh Akbar are also comfort reads for me. Though, by “comfort,” I actually mean I aim to be as devastating and honest through my poetry as they are. The more powerful the imagery, the more I am drawn in, and these poets hook me every time.
About the Poet
Lana Issam Ghannam’s poetry has appeared in The Revolution (Relaunch), Burrow Press Review, Mississippi Review, Prism Review, Raleigh Review, Spoon River Review, Sukoon, and The Cape Rock, among other journals. She is a first-generation Palestinian-American, born and raised in Central Florida. She received her MFA from the University of Central Florida in 2015, and her first poetry collection, Two Tongues, was published in 2019. Ghannam teaches English composition and lives in Florida with her husband and two sons.
