Professor Ali’s Book Celebration

By Ahlaam Abdulwali ‘25

On October 22nd, I had the honor of attending Professor Sarah Ghazal Ali’s book celebration. The book event took place in the cozy living room of the Briggs House. The peak autumn colors and dreary weather made it the perfect day for a poetry reading. Professor Matt Burgess introduced Professor Ali and spoke of the many feats she achieved with her new poetry collection Theophanies. Professor Burgess described this collection as “modern, but somehow also ancient” and a form of “matrilineal archive.”

In Professor Burgess’ creative writing class, his students read “My Faith Gets Grime under Its Nails,” one of the poems Professor Ali read during this event. One of his students remarked in class that the actions listed in the poem, like “sleeping coiled on my night-/ blue prayer mat” or praying salah in “elevators, Victoria’s Secret/fitting room, the muck-slick meadow after rain,” were things that they did too. After Professor Burgess’ introduction, Professor Ali read some poems from her collection. My personal favorite was “Matrilineage [umbilicus],” a contrapuntal poem that can be read 3 different ways. The poem is divided down the middle like the “linea nigra” mentioned in the poem.

Professor Ali graciously answered questions from the audience after the reading. Professor Ali described her poetic lineage which includes poets Agha Shahid Ali and Mary Szybist. Professor Burgess delivered the closing remarks and everyone went to get a bookie (book cookies decorated with the cover of Theophanies) to enjoy!