OCEAN COUNTY – It sounds like the start of a joke, a Jew and a Muslim walk into a Methodist Church and read some poetry, but in reality, that is exactly what happened and the event held in Island Heights served as a unifying and special event.
Faleeha Hassan, who is a Muslin, has written nearly 30 books of poetry and one of her most recent, is “The Maya Angelou of Iraq.” David L. Steinberg, who is Jewish, has written 20 books – one of which is “My Enemy in the Mirror” featuring a poem that was published in Gaza in 2014. Both of these poets are Nobel Peace Prize nominees who came to the Island Heights United Methodist Church (UMC) to read passages of their work.
A crowd of people sat in the pews of the church which this year is celebrating its 100th anniversary. While some of the themes of their poetry came from dark experiences, the messages they relayed proclaimed hope and unity.
The program was arranged by Reverend Karen Murray of the Island Heights UMC and Bill Pike, the president of the Ocean County Artists Guild.
“We are so fortunate to have our two guests here today,” Pike said. He noted that the mission of the Ocean County Artists Guild was to “hopefully attract music, other authors and a community that values the arts and when I met David he said, ‘I’m an artist to but I create art with words.’ I love that because poetry is an art form so we are going to try and start poetry workshops at the Guild.”
“If I told you about all the awards that these two people (Hassan and Steinberg) have gotten we’d be here for a long time,” Pike added.
Hassan’s first book of poetry was published in 1991, “Because I Am A Girl” and it was the first book of poetry by a woman in her city. “I lived through two wars – the Iraqi-Iran War which started in 1980 and finished in 1988 and then the Iraqi-Kuwait War – and that is why many of my poems are about war and surviving.”
“When I came here in 2012, I told myself I would learn English and I am still working on it but I can read and write and also read and write in Arabic. I published 28 books, novels and poetry and my work has been translated into almost 29 languages.”
Steinberg credited Hassan as being, “one of the reasons I got nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In February of 2014 my sister passed. I had written a poem in the waning moments of her life and I read it at her memorial service. Faleeha liked the poem and asked if she could translate it and put it into Arabic for a website in England.”
“I thought this was pretty cool. She said she had a friend (who wanted to translate it for readers) in Holland, Sweden and Moracco, Tunisha, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. She called me on my birthday and it was a birthday present I will never forget. She said her friend that wanted to publish my poem, “My Enemy in the Mirror.” That book, that features his poem, was also published in Gaza in 2014.
Rev. Murray expressed how appropriate and special it was for the two poets from two different religions to come to a different house of worship than their own to share their talent as it symbolized a coming together of peace and unity in the expression of their poetry. “This is peace and freedom and we are blessed,” she said. “It expresses hope for the world.”
Hassan’s website is ahewar.org and FaleehaHassan.wordpress.com Steinberg can be reached at Steinberg.david07@comcast.net and further details about the Ocean County Artists Guild, based at 22 Chestnut Avenue in Island Heights can be found by visiting ocartistsguild.org.
Island Heights United Methodist Church is a multi-cultural family friendly church that welcomes people of all ages.Full details about the church can be found by visiting ihumc.org.
