arab american lit

Another article on Arab and Arab American literature:
“‘People don’t understand that literature started in the Arab world,’ [U.S. poet] Abinader says. ‘The short story was invented in Egypt. When people talk about Arab American literature as ‘new,’ I’m sorry — it’s not. This is a literature that has a tradition longer than Western literature. There were Arab women poets in the seventh century. Writing by Arab Americans is one of our major accomplishments. The only congressionally legislated poetry monument in the country is the Gibran memorial.’
The memorial to Kahlil Gibran, who died in 1931, is in Washington’s Rock Creek Park, a few minutes’ drive from the White House. Gibran, who was Lebanese American, is best known for “The Prophet,” a volume of poetry that, since its initial publication in 1923, has remained popular around the world. ”