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The poet and painter Nawal Naffaa was born in the northern Israeli village of Bet Jann. Today she lives in Haifa where she is a librarian in Gordon College. Here is what she says about her two languages, the visual one of painting and the textual one of poetry:

“At times I try to merge the two, in the most straightforward way by illustrating the children’s books that I write, or by integrating texts or words into my paintings. But the most exciting way for me is painting within writing, using metaphor in poetry. As an element of poetry, metaphor is the artistic and creative element that I integrate into my writing.”

Today host Marcela Sulak reads two poems by Naffaa – “Red Bread” and “Windows” – translated into English from the original Arabic.

Text:
Poetry International Rotterdam – Nawal Naffaa

Music:
Assala – Molhemto El Wahida | آصالة – ملهمته الوحيدة
Assala – El Ward El Balady | آصالة – الورد البلدي

Producer: Laragh Widdess
Technical producer: Alex Benish