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Hummus and Poetry events were an annual tradition at The Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick until COVID put a stop to it. CCAC is delighted to reinvigorate this tradition in collaboration with The Gulf of Maine Books, and with the sister and brother team Zeina and Fateh, who had been participants in that tradition.
Proceeds will benefit The Gaza Soup Kitchen
Zeina Azzam is a poet, writer, editor, and community activist. She was Poet Laureate of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, from April 2022 to April 2025. Her poetry appears in dozens of literary journals, anthologies, edited volumes, and online forums. She has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. Zeina’s full-length poetry collection, Some Things Never Leave You, was published in 2023 by Tiger Bark Press, and her chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between , in 2021 by The Poetry Box. Her poem, “You Birth the Seeds,” was set as a choral piece by renowned composer Melissa Dunphy. Zeina serves as the poetry editor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza, and volunteers for humanitarian organizations that support Palestinian farming and development. She is also active in Grassroots Alexandria, a local group that advocates for the civil rights of vulnerable communities in Alexandria, Virginia, where she lives. www.zeinaazzam.com
Fateh Azzam lives in Georgetown, Maine, and was a member of Tony Montanaro’s Celebration Mime Theater of South Paris, which performed at CCAC in the late 1970s. He acted and choreographed in the Boston area with the Cambridge Ensemble and Stage Left and co-founded Al-Watan Contemporary Arabic Music Ensemble. In 1985, he moved to East Jerusalem to direct the Palestinian El-Hakawati Theater Center. Living in Palestine kicked off a 35-year international career in human rights advocacy with non-profits, philanthropy, academia, and the United Nations. Back in Maine since 2016, Fateh has been active with the Maine Coalition for Palestine, and in 2024, he adapted and co-directed The Gaza Monologues with students from Casco Bay High School in Portland and Bowdoin College. Fateh’s two plays, Ansar and Baggage, have been performed internationally, including in Brunswick in 2009. He is a member of the Maine-based Arabic Music Community Ensemble, which performed at CCAC last May.
