NPR Books: Arab poetry flourishes in Middle East

Here in the United States, poetry doesn’t get much attention. Books of poetry hardly every make the bestseller list (I can’t think the last time one did, if ever). And most poets can only survive by teaching or holding some other job. But in the Arab world, poetry is very popular and even big business.

I guess you can say poetry is to the Arab world that music is to the US. So today, when I was listening to my daily mix of podcasts I subscribe to, I was very interested in this NPR Books podcast that talks about Arab poetry and its relation to culture and religion (the Quran, Islam’s holy book, is seen as the height of Arab poetry).

Even if you don’t normally listen to podcasts or subscribe to them, this episode is well worth your time, and it’s only about 6 minutes long. Enjoy!

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