Location: Tubas, West Bank
Portrait of a Poet and Mathematician
On a hot afternoon in June, Nedal Sawalmeh, my guide and friend and I were “kidnapped by kindness,” an experience I have had numerous times in Palestine. Raja Abu Salah and her mother welcomed us to their lovely Tubas home with its brocaded couches and golden afternoon sunlight. They prepared a lunch of coke, water, white cheese , pickles, rice, home-made pita, yogurt , and a soup with beef and potatoes for us. Neither of us had ever met these women before.
While we ate, Raja read from her book of poems, A Declaration for My Spirit. Her poetry focuses on Palestinian national identity and Palestinian issues. Several of her titles reflect her concerns and themes: “ Palestinian without Identity,” “Wider than a Woman,” “The Lines of Wheat,” and “Prayers of the Nectar.”
Born in Saudi Arabia, Raja was a student at Al Quds Open University in Tubas where she earned a degree in mathematics. . In university she wrote poetry which was published in magazines; she was also interviewed on Palestinian TV. Her father teaches math; her grandfather was a poet, and her mother studied Islamic religion at university in Hebron. Raja now spends time writing and publishing her poetry.
Currently, she is working on a novel about women’s issues in the Arab world. Raja feels that women are under constant pressure ; they don’t have full freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives. Although Raja has looked for a job teaching math, she would rather have one relating to literature and writing. Please see the two videos below of Raja talking about and reading her poetry.