Rahat Kurd
@rahat.bsky.social
reader & writer / THE BOOK OF Z: https://talonbooks.com/books/the-book-of-z / ahl-e-zubaan / she/they / free palestine
Here's a pink heart inscribed with the word "Dosti" = "Friendship" in Urdu script.
Be a friend for Gaza, where Zena needs milk and food.
Keep sharing and keep protesting.
#CeasefireNOW #DisarmIsFake #StopArmingIsFake #FeedGazaNOW
Be a friend for Gaza, where Zena needs milk and food.
Keep sharing and keep protesting.
#CeasefireNOW #DisarmIsFake #StopArmingIsFake #FeedGazaNOW
September 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Here's a pink heart inscribed with the word "Dosti" = "Friendship" in Urdu script.
Be a friend for Gaza, where Zena needs milk and food.
Keep sharing and keep protesting.
#CeasefireNOW #DisarmIsFake #StopArmingIsFake #FeedGazaNOW
Be a friend for Gaza, where Zena needs milk and food.
Keep sharing and keep protesting.
#CeasefireNOW #DisarmIsFake #StopArmingIsFake #FeedGazaNOW
The Book of Z is a persona poem, written in the imagined voice of a contemporary Zulaykha.
September 5, 2025 at 9:35 PM
The Book of Z is a persona poem, written in the imagined voice of a contemporary Zulaykha.
I went to see filmmaker Rehab Nazzal’s photography/multimedia art exhibit called DRIVING IN PALESTINE at the Vines, a local Vancouver gallery. Please keep sharing, giving, protesting. #FeedGazaNow
August 19, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I went to see filmmaker Rehab Nazzal’s photography/multimedia art exhibit called DRIVING IN PALESTINE at the Vines, a local Vancouver gallery. Please keep sharing, giving, protesting. #FeedGazaNow
My love of Islamic art! What to say about this 16th C Safavid era Herati painting, "Farhad carves a milk channel for Shirin", except: lucky, lucky, Shirin. Her springtime yellow dress; that prancing, lovely horse. Every kid should have the chance to learn how to ride horseback. #FeedGazaNOW
August 18, 2025 at 10:21 PM
My love of Islamic art! What to say about this 16th C Safavid era Herati painting, "Farhad carves a milk channel for Shirin", except: lucky, lucky, Shirin. Her springtime yellow dress; that prancing, lovely horse. Every kid should have the chance to learn how to ride horseback. #FeedGazaNOW
So, I am an avid follower of/ learner about Islamic art. I have been able to maintain and develop this interest because my parents were able to house, feed, clothe, and educate me. No aerial bombardment, starvation siege, or other state terror.
You know the feeling? Pay it forward. #FeedGazaNow
You know the feeling? Pay it forward. #FeedGazaNow
August 18, 2025 at 10:07 PM
So, I am an avid follower of/ learner about Islamic art. I have been able to maintain and develop this interest because my parents were able to house, feed, clothe, and educate me. No aerial bombardment, starvation siege, or other state terror.
You know the feeling? Pay it forward. #FeedGazaNow
You know the feeling? Pay it forward. #FeedGazaNow
Here’s a cheerful text message from my editor yesterday afternoon + front cover of THE BOOK OF Z, my forthcoming work of poetry with Talonbooks @talonbooks.bsky.social
August 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Here’s a cheerful text message from my editor yesterday afternoon + front cover of THE BOOK OF Z, my forthcoming work of poetry with Talonbooks @talonbooks.bsky.social
Taking slow deep breaths with this image from #PinkQuran today.
For everyone who is triggered by renewed violent bigotry and expressions of harm by white supremacists against Muslims.
For everyone who is triggered by renewed violent bigotry and expressions of harm by white supremacists against Muslims.
July 1, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Taking slow deep breaths with this image from #PinkQuran today.
For everyone who is triggered by renewed violent bigotry and expressions of harm by white supremacists against Muslims.
For everyone who is triggered by renewed violent bigotry and expressions of harm by white supremacists against Muslims.
Reading #UrduPoetry with some ahl-e-zubaan is a nerdy labour of love. No fāl is involved in the choice of ghazal; Mir Taqi Mir wrote it late 18th c. Poetry makes nothing happen. But to read this she'r today is to receive a small gift from the universe.
June 14, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reading #UrduPoetry with some ahl-e-zubaan is a nerdy labour of love. No fāl is involved in the choice of ghazal; Mir Taqi Mir wrote it late 18th c. Poetry makes nothing happen. But to read this she'r today is to receive a small gift from the universe.
Failing at social media, on the daily
June 5, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Failing at social media, on the daily
In more Spring Forward (Diem Horribilis) news, I…have managed…to complete my copy edits
March 11, 2025 at 3:17 AM
In more Spring Forward (Diem Horribilis) news, I…have managed…to complete my copy edits
On March 15th, I'll be talking about #ghazal poetics in a free reading/discussion group at Centre A in Vancouver. For details, register by March 7th here centrea.org/programs-events/
February 24, 2025 at 12:58 AM
On March 15th, I'll be talking about #ghazal poetics in a free reading/discussion group at Centre A in Vancouver. For details, register by March 7th here centrea.org/programs-events/
Any #ghazal aficionados in this Butterfly app house? Toronto-based poet & translator Khashayar Mohammadi dedicated this one to me, published by EVENT Magazine in the fall
February 14, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Any #ghazal aficionados in this Butterfly app house? Toronto-based poet & translator Khashayar Mohammadi dedicated this one to me, published by EVENT Magazine in the fall
Naomi Shihab Nye, excerpt from her poem, “Passing the Refugee Camp” (2002)
From the book, 19 Varieties of Gazelle
From the book, 19 Varieties of Gazelle
February 6, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Naomi Shihab Nye, excerpt from her poem, “Passing the Refugee Camp” (2002)
From the book, 19 Varieties of Gazelle
From the book, 19 Varieties of Gazelle
Call for poetry submissions (right here in my comments) prompted by the awkward, enervating limbo between a mandatory 11 am checkout time and a 3:35 pm ferry departure on a winter afternoon
January 27, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Call for poetry submissions (right here in my comments) prompted by the awkward, enervating limbo between a mandatory 11 am checkout time and a 3:35 pm ferry departure on a winter afternoon
May we earn the right to feel hope today by staying steadfast. Nothing less than freedom and justice for all of Palestine. No bombs, no land theft, no apartheid, no walls.
January 16, 2025 at 2:35 AM
May we earn the right to feel hope today by staying steadfast. Nothing less than freedom and justice for all of Palestine. No bombs, no land theft, no apartheid, no walls.
From WEATHER by Jenny Ofill, which I read in 2023. 🕷️ 🐝
December 17, 2024 at 1:28 AM
From WEATHER by Jenny Ofill, which I read in 2023. 🕷️ 🐝
Opening passage from A IS FOR ACHOLI by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek, reminds me of when we lived in the same YVR neighbourhood & our kids (my one; her two; biggish age gap) overlapped at École Bilingue for a year. Two struggling writer moms. Those were my years of frayed edges & forgotten Tuesdays.
December 16, 2024 at 11:03 PM
Opening passage from A IS FOR ACHOLI by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek, reminds me of when we lived in the same YVR neighbourhood & our kids (my one; her two; biggish age gap) overlapped at École Bilingue for a year. Two struggling writer moms. Those were my years of frayed edges & forgotten Tuesdays.
I finally had bookshelves installed in my living room this week, after too much overthinking and anxious delay. I love their open airiness and lightness. Another joyful thing — to have dedicated shelves for poetry.
December 6, 2024 at 1:22 AM
I finally had bookshelves installed in my living room this week, after too much overthinking and anxious delay. I love their open airiness and lightness. Another joyful thing — to have dedicated shelves for poetry.
I was in some indefinable mood.
I made this.
I made this.
November 30, 2024 at 1:06 AM
I was in some indefinable mood.
I made this.
I made this.
And last night at a BOYCOTT GILLER solidarity event I read aloud from “Down the Market”, a short story about settler violence written by Selma Dabbagh, published in 2007 in NW15: The Anthology of New Writing (Granta)
November 20, 2024 at 12:58 AM
And last night at a BOYCOTT GILLER solidarity event I read aloud from “Down the Market”, a short story about settler violence written by Selma Dabbagh, published in 2007 in NW15: The Anthology of New Writing (Granta)
I wrote a review of Raja Shehadeh’s PALESTINIAN WALKS for rabble, a Canadian news site, in 2009
November 20, 2024 at 12:51 AM
I wrote a review of Raja Shehadeh’s PALESTINIAN WALKS for rabble, a Canadian news site, in 2009
"MARRIED TO ENGLISH" is a poem from my 2015 book, COSMOPHILIA, published online at the Talonbooks blog.
Thought I'd share for my first post.
PHOTOS: Three screencaps of the full text of a poem called "Married to English" by Rahat Kurd in black sans serif type on a white background.
Thought I'd share for my first post.
PHOTOS: Three screencaps of the full text of a poem called "Married to English" by Rahat Kurd in black sans serif type on a white background.
November 28, 2023 at 5:43 AM
"MARRIED TO ENGLISH" is a poem from my 2015 book, COSMOPHILIA, published online at the Talonbooks blog.
Thought I'd share for my first post.
PHOTOS: Three screencaps of the full text of a poem called "Married to English" by Rahat Kurd in black sans serif type on a white background.
Thought I'd share for my first post.
PHOTOS: Three screencaps of the full text of a poem called "Married to English" by Rahat Kurd in black sans serif type on a white background.