All Arab American poets worth their salt blend their feelings about their actual or ancestral homeland with their experiences in America. Whether they were foreign born poets who learned Arabic as their first language (Rihani, Madi, Gibran) or American born who learned English as their first language (Hamod, Orfalea, Marshall, Abinader, etc.), aside from Abu Madi, all wrote in primarily in English. At times, as in the case of Hamod, Marshall and later Nye and Elmusa, the poets mixed English with Arabic (written in English). The tension between the two cultures adds a dimension that parallels that of other ethnic American writers (Lawson Inada,Japanese American; David Kherdian, Armenian American; Simon Ortiz, Acoma Native America; Ishmael Reed, African American, etc.). There is a sense of belonging and also a sense of being "the other" the "outsider" who will never wholly fit into the Anglo Western European American world; but ultimately, none really want to totally fit if it means they have to give up their ethnic heritage. What they bring is not an opposition to the culture, but an addition to the general American culture so that they "contribute" to the expansion of the culture and this creative edge is a complement that helps cultures grow.

The best general introduction to Arab American writing is an anthology, "Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab American Poetry," edited by G. Orfalea and S. Elmusa, U. of Utah Press, 1988. The earliest established writers of Arab origin were Ameen Rihani (l876-l940) and the internationally famous Khalil Gibran (l883-l931), they were followed by two other writers of immigrant origin, Mikhail Naimy (1889-1988) and Elia Abu Madi (l890-l957). Most of these writers mixed traditional forms and themes relating to their homeland. This group was called the Mahjar poets; most wrote in English except for Abu Madi (who wrote only in Arabic).

Samuel Hazo (l928-) was of the next generation of poets. His poetry is formally structured and often abstract in his emotions, his subject matter ranges widely from Middle Eastern settings to travels in America and visits with friends, this can be observed in "For Fawzi in Jerusalem." In the modern and contemporary era, Samuel Hazo established himself early as a poet deserving attention and respect.

Sam Hamod and Jack Marshall came into view in the l960s while both were teaching at the Writers Workshop at The University of Iowa. Hamod's work is a mixture of seriousness and humor at times, but his poetry often works close to the bone with his emotions unmasked. Jack Marshall tends to move from concrete and varied images out into the universe of our lives.
Hamod's, "After the Funeral of Assam Hamady" and "Lines To My Father" were two influential poems that were tied to the Arab/Islamic culture and its interaction with modern American culture. Marshall's "Sesame" explores the taste and smell of these mixtures of culture and the ways they affect our perceptions and imaginations.

In parallel fashion, Ben Bennani utilized a good sense of wit to bring the Arab and Arab American scene to his readers in such poems the sensitive "Letters to Lebanon" and the sharp "Camel's Bite." Simultaneously, Fawaz Turki brought his Palestinian memories to bear in his anguished cry for understanding and justice in his vivid poems, especially in Tel Zaatar Was the Hill of Thyme" and Lawrence Joseph showed his cutting edge in "Sand Nigger."

The next group followed this directness, poets such as Gregory Orfalea, Sharif Elmusa, Elmaz Abinader and Naomi Shihab Nye made their mark with personal and clear emotional poems such as Orfalea's "The Bomb that Fell on Abdu's Farm", Elmusa's "In the Refugee Camp", Abinader's "Letters from Home" and Nye's "My Father and the Fig Tree."

The influence of the poets writing in the l960s remains strong when viewing the poetry of the newer and younger generation of poets, Lisa Majaj, Dima Hilal and others. At this time, there are many directions some of the younger poets are taking--slam poems, song poems, traditional poems--but in all cases, they blend the "old country in their minds and hearts" with their American experience so that their double vision gives us something worth seeing and hearing about