Rabih Alameddine on the Impact Poetry Has Had on His Life
Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.
Today on episode 81 of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul Holdengräber and Rabih Alameddine explore how poetry has impacted their lives, and share their mutual adoration for the work of Fernando Pessoa. When Holdengräber asks what is his favorite poem, Alameddine reads “Happiness Writes White,” by Edward Hirsch.
To listen to the episode, as well as the whole archive of The Quarantine Tapes, subscribe and listen on iTunes or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts.
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Rabih Alameddine is the author of I, the Divine (W.W. Norton), The Hakawati (A.A. Knopf), Koolaids, The Perv, An Unnecessary Woman, and The Angel of History (all Grove Atlantic). An Unnecessary Woman was a finalist for the National Book Award 2014 and the winner of the prestigious Prix Femina étranger, and The Angel of History won the Lambda Literary Award. Alameddine is the winner of the 2019 Dos Passos Prize. His next novel, The Wrong End of the Telescope, will be published by Grove in spring/summer 2021.
