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Etel Adnan Poetry Series
the magic my body becomes: Poems
Winner, 2017 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize
In the magic my body becomes, Jess Rizkallah seeks a vernacular for the inescapable middle ground of being Arab American—a space that she finds, at times, to be too Arab for America and too American for her Lebanese elders.
These poems freely assert gender, sexuality, and religious beliefs while at the same time respecting a generational divide: the younger’s privilege gained by the sacrifice of the older, the impossibility of separating what is wholly hers from what is hers secondhand.
In exploring family history, civil war, trauma, and Lebanon itself, Rizkallah draws from the spirits of canonical Arab and Middle Eastern poets. As a result of her conjuring, the reader feels these spirits begin to exorcise the grief of those who are still alive. Throughout, there is the body, a reclamation and pushback against cultures that simultaneously sexualize and shame women. And there is a softness as inherent as rage, a resisting of stereotypes that too often speak louder than the complexities of a resilient cultural identity.
The magic my body becomes is an exciting new book from an exciting young poet, a love letter to a people as well as a fist in the air.
In the magic my body becomes, Jess Rizkallah seeks a vernacular for the inescapable middle ground of being Arab American—a space that she finds, at times, to be too Arab for America and too American for her Lebanese elders.
These poems freely assert gender, sexuality, and religious beliefs while at the same time respecting a generational divide: the younger’s privilege gained by the sacrifice of the older, the impossibility of separating what is wholly hers from what is hers secondhand.
In exploring family history, civil war, trauma, and Lebanon itself, Rizkallah draws from the spirits of canonical Arab and Middle Eastern poets. As a result of her conjuring, the reader feels these spirits begin to exorcise the grief of those who are still alive. Throughout, there is the body, a reclamation and pushback against cultures that simultaneously sexualize and shame women. And there is a softness as inherent as rage, a resisting of stereotypes that too often speak louder than the complexities of a resilient cultural identity.
The magic my body becomes is an exciting new book from an exciting young poet, a love letter to a people as well as a fist in the air.
74 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2017
About the author
Jess Rizkallah
7 books15 followersJess Rizkallah is a Lebanese American writer, illustrator, spoken-word poet, and editor from Boston, Massachusetts.
Her debut poetry collection, the magic my body becomes (The University of Arkansas Press, 2017), won the 2017 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. She is the founding editor of Pizza Pi Press.
Rizkallah has been a Kundiman Fellow, a 2019 Poetry Foundation Incubator Fellow, and a 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow, and a 2019 artist in residence at the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, NC State. She earned an MFA in poetry from New York University and a BA from Lesley University.
Her debut poetry collection, the magic my body becomes (The University of Arkansas Press, 2017), won the 2017 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. She is the founding editor of Pizza Pi Press.
Rizkallah has been a Kundiman Fellow, a 2019 Poetry Foundation Incubator Fellow, and a 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow, and a 2019 artist in residence at the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, NC State. She earned an MFA in poetry from New York University and a BA from Lesley University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
March 18, 2022
Rizkallah asserts her voice on sexuality, gender and religious beliefs while simultaneously respecting the generational divide.
Incredibly important discourse!
Incredibly important discourse!
May 5, 2020
so talk to me about language again. tell me about the broken
collecting what it can in the grooves of itself so that
one day it may be more than a tongue.
collecting what it can in the grooves of itself so that
one day it may be more than a tongue.
September 25, 2018
Jess is the future of Arab-American literature <3 GO BUY THIS BOOK!
March 9, 2024
Some absolutely stunning poems/passages, but in sum leaned too far into social media poetry cliches to be as effective as it could have been.
September 11, 2018
Hands down one of the most important books of poetry I’ve ever read.
December 21, 2022
you are made of rings, ancient
you have always been here
(aphorisms for lonely arabs)
saint of the lemon tree his father put there
saint of the ripest tomatoes
saint of the shrapneled kitchen tile their baby feet slapped
saint of the blue peaks by the ocean where we began
saint of the way we say what again
and again as plea, as demand.
(when they ask who i pray to)
i am always searching for the moon. maybe
instead of blood, i am full of moths.
(notebook fragments — which she wrote after reading Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds 😭)
you have always been here
(aphorisms for lonely arabs)
saint of the lemon tree his father put there
saint of the ripest tomatoes
saint of the shrapneled kitchen tile their baby feet slapped
saint of the blue peaks by the ocean where we began
saint of the way we say what again
and again as plea, as demand.
(when they ask who i pray to)
i am always searching for the moon. maybe
instead of blood, i am full of moths.
(notebook fragments — which she wrote after reading Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds 😭)
June 5, 2018
This is a no holds barred meditation on Lebanese/immigrant/female identity, homeland, loss, and power. Rizkallah touches on the conflict of the diaspora. She doesn't shy away from saying what needs to be said, and each page dips with dialogue and image that just hurts.
April 17, 2020
ladies PLEASE read this book !!!!!! 😭❣️💌
March 31, 2020
4.5 stars!
June 3, 2026
Brilliant and standout poems in Rizkallah's collection: I'll Bury You, Poem as My Dad, give me the flute and sing, Sin el Fin Lebanon. The language is mobile and moved me, both subtle and muscular.
January 28, 2019
Ahhh her metaphors are always so creative I’m always pleasantly surprised. Also her humour! A delicious read.
May 10, 2022
“if an arab girl caves into the forest of her body
is she the tree or the ax or is she the space between?” ~Jess Rizkallah
I loved this collection of poetry from Rizkallah. It was beautiful, vulnerable, and timely. Rizkallah writes about the dynamics of being Arab American, the generational divide, displacement, religion, and sexuality. There were so many morsels of beautiful prose that I know will replay in my mind like a lot of my favorite poetry does. Beautiful book and so well-deserving of the Etal Adnan Poetry Prize.
is she the tree or the ax or is she the space between?” ~Jess Rizkallah
I loved this collection of poetry from Rizkallah. It was beautiful, vulnerable, and timely. Rizkallah writes about the dynamics of being Arab American, the generational divide, displacement, religion, and sexuality. There were so many morsels of beautiful prose that I know will replay in my mind like a lot of my favorite poetry does. Beautiful book and so well-deserving of the Etal Adnan Poetry Prize.
March 27, 2020
Jess Rizkallah's poetry holds a soft power that grows as you keep reading. She writes on the Lebanese-American experience, tackling topics like cross-generational trauma, violence and oppression against women from both Lebanese men and American men, and sacrifices of our ancestors to bring us to where we are today.
Earlier on my review of THEM Issue I, I read a poem that stated how our very existence is inherently violent and oppressive, as we are here because others who are less privileged are not. Rizkallah reiterates this (we discuss the / the microscopic; / our cavities as excavation sites / for the trauma that isn't ours / but brought us here) but also recognizes that a lot of the suffering are from people that love us and sacrificed so much to get us to where we are today (i ask her how many years it would take to visit each / grave the past filled to bring me here. she tells me / that each day i am here is a flower left at a different stone.).
And thus, in a way, our body and existence is a form of magic. As she writes: i'm alive, and therefore enough.
Earlier on my review of THEM Issue I, I read a poem that stated how our very existence is inherently violent and oppressive, as we are here because others who are less privileged are not. Rizkallah reiterates this (we discuss the / the microscopic; / our cavities as excavation sites / for the trauma that isn't ours / but brought us here) but also recognizes that a lot of the suffering are from people that love us and sacrificed so much to get us to where we are today (i ask her how many years it would take to visit each / grave the past filled to bring me here. she tells me / that each day i am here is a flower left at a different stone.).
And thus, in a way, our body and existence is a form of magic. As she writes: i'm alive, and therefore enough.
December 26, 2017
"why are you closing the curtain let them stare"
"we are all silent in the wrong places."
Jess Rizkallah conducts her words and ideas through this collection in a vulnerable and profound way. She at once invites you to find yourself in her words while also being very specific that this is her story. She is a Lebanese-American and the voice she gives to her heritage, family, and self is unique and one that I learned from. Writing, and poetry specifically, is an incredible exercise in empathy and understanding.
I don't know how scrupulous it is to quote another review, but the review on the back of the book by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib says, "[It's] about family, but not only. About loneliness, but not only. About joy and home and celebration of the self, but not only."
Buy this, get a cup of coffee or some wine and read it.
"we are all silent in the wrong places."
Jess Rizkallah conducts her words and ideas through this collection in a vulnerable and profound way. She at once invites you to find yourself in her words while also being very specific that this is her story. She is a Lebanese-American and the voice she gives to her heritage, family, and self is unique and one that I learned from. Writing, and poetry specifically, is an incredible exercise in empathy and understanding.
I don't know how scrupulous it is to quote another review, but the review on the back of the book by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib says, "[It's] about family, but not only. About loneliness, but not only. About joy and home and celebration of the self, but not only."
Buy this, get a cup of coffee or some wine and read it.
March 24, 2018
This is another one of those books that feels like it uses the slam poet form to present another ethnic category, this time Arab women, or to be more specific, Lebanese women. It's got poems spoken, aphoristically, by a poetically conceived grandmother, and poems about family and growing up and about being a modern woman. It's a collection that reaches to make connections to other women's cultural experience and to speak alongside them. But it rarely felt like it was finding its own voice, more like it was saying (no irony intended) "me, too." There are good poems here, but nothing that really stood out to me as distinctively in its own language.
August 6, 2018
Lebanese-American Poet Jess Rizkallah explores the intersection between cultures and sexuality in this collection that also moves from a sort of fragmented, primitive exploration of language structures to sophisticated images and figurative language. Favorite poem: “Origin Story.” Some of my favorite lunes: “hands are the etymology of prayer” from “give me the flute & sing,” as well as “we are all silent in the wrong places” from “sometimes i feel like my own life would never pass the bechdel test.” Add this to your #TeachLivingPoets collection.
February 5, 2019
Jess Rizkallah is a beautiful soul with remarkable talent. I ate this book up when I bought it, she paints with words and it gets right to your heart. I was pleasantly surprised at how relatable some of the pieces were, considering how different my background is to hers, which I believe speaks on her ability with words and, again, remarkable talent. Insightful, entertaining, beautiful and poignant. Five stars, for sure.
February 1, 2023
Saya menyukai bagaimana Jess membungkus puisi-puisinya dengan mempertahankan satu tema utuh, tapi mampu menjangkau hal-hal luar biasa yang mengitarinya.
Saya menyukai bagaimana puisi-puisinya beresonansi dengan saya tanpa merasa terlalu general.
Buku ini banyak membicarakan ketubuhan, kehidupan kultural, dan dinamika perempuan. Jess mengungkapkan identitas dan emosi manusia yang rumit di tempat-tempat tertentu. Ingin saya baca lagi dan lagi. Berulang kali.
Saya menyukai bagaimana puisi-puisinya beresonansi dengan saya tanpa merasa terlalu general.
Buku ini banyak membicarakan ketubuhan, kehidupan kultural, dan dinamika perempuan. Jess mengungkapkan identitas dan emosi manusia yang rumit di tempat-tempat tertentu. Ingin saya baca lagi dan lagi. Berulang kali.
January 19, 2021
"i'm not one for the rough stuff but there are certain types of pain i think about as i think about a collarbone in shadow or the way the sun that one time let me see its outline then let me keep my vision"
"when enough homes collapse into mines, anything close enough to lick your wounds will sound like a canary"
"when enough homes collapse into mines, anything close enough to lick your wounds will sound like a canary"
May 14, 2025
So many of these poems I felt my heartstrings pulled as I read them line by line. The beauty of poetry really is that we come from so many different walks of life and sentiments can be shared that speak so pointedly to our own lived experiences, I wondered if Jess Rizkallah peered into our hearts while writing.
February 20, 2018
A moving, deeply-felt meditation on Lebanese/immigrant/female identity, homeland, loss, and power. Rizkallah touches on the conflict of the diaspora...and how one's homeland flows through one's blood like a river - sometimes silent, sometimes deafening.
March 5, 2021
"say patron saint of teta’s hands.
small hands that beaded and embroidered
and kneaded and carried and learned the alphabet.
a for apple. b for box. c for candle.
d for dog. d for death. d for dirt
under the nails. a hard day’s work a picture frame"
small hands that beaded and embroidered
and kneaded and carried and learned the alphabet.
a for apple. b for box. c for candle.
d for dog. d for death. d for dirt
under the nails. a hard day’s work a picture frame"
September 28, 2017
As a fellow Lebanese American, I find this narrative to be essential.
November 17, 2017
Absolutely striking.
May 21, 2020
God....the Lebanese Diaspora Feelings™....Stunnung. Strange but comforting to know someone you've never met feels so specifically similar.
July 24, 2020
"I come from love that didn't always know the right way.”
December 14, 2020
This collection is gorgeous.
January 16, 2021
Some very powerful poems but I'm afraid this wasn't for me.
January 25, 2021
This was a nice poetry collection. Overall, well written and very interesting.
I loved:
-ghada says (all of them)
-ahwak
-origin story
-i am a garden of bones but don't call me a cemetary
I loved:
-ghada says (all of them)
-ahwak
-origin story
-i am a garden of bones but don't call me a cemetary
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews