Friends, I have been waiting to share this news. And in the waiting I have learned a thing or two about patience, gratefully so.
My debut poetry book, Alhamdullilah Anyway, is now available for pre-order. Before saying more, I’d like to take a moment and soak in the joy of even having a poetry collection. About eleven years ago, when I was first introduced to poetry as a way of being and writing as a practice, I considered myself not intelligent enough to understand a poem, let alone write one. I am most grateful for all the muses, teachers, mentors, and friends that encouraged me along the way. Poetry and writing are what I know to be my true vocation, my most honest expression, the way I have found belonging to this body and this life. Alhamdulillah—gratitude be to Allah—for having set foot onto this path, and for all the kind, supportive people I’ve been privileged to meet along the way.
Pre-Order Alhamdulillah Anyway
The button above links to Barclay Press, of which Fernwood Press is an imprint. Links for Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble will be available soon. You can also order this through your favorite independent online bookshop or local bookstore by requesting it (ISBN: 97815949824394). Alhamdulillah Anyway will be out by Sept 1, 2026.
The person on the cover is my teta, my maternal grandmother. I took this photo of her picking loquats from our village garden in the south in 2016. She is a subject of a handful of poems in Alhamdulillah Anyway. I wrote this collection in response to the genocide in Palestine and the war in Lebanon with a focus on how language authors war and what it means to be of a land. Most of the poems were written in late 2023 and 2024, some later. In an early conversation with my publisher about timeline upon accepting the manuscript, he expressed that unfortunately, the topic will still be relevant by the time the book is out. The Palestinian genocide and war aggressions in Lebanon are sadly still relevant. The situation at our village house is now dire. I have written many poems about this indigestible circumstance since, though this collection holds a specialness in my heart. By the time of Oct 7th, 2023, I had just started my first semester at Naropa University. News of what followed lived with me for the entirety of my graduate schooling. Writing these poems is what saved me from the ledge.
Here is the back cover description
How totally must a heart break so that gratitude is repeatedly uttered on our lips? In Alhamdulillah Anyway, Moudi Sbeity responds by holding the grief of witnessing the genocide in Gaza and the war in Lebanon alongside praise for existing at all. As a queer muslim who stutters, Sbeity’s debut collection intimately addresses how language and narrative author our collective experience. His poems reach across the divide of border and ideology and into the shared pulse of being, pointing toward the possibility of liberation through a framework of compassion, forgiveness, and awe. So that even with all the difficulties we each face daily, even with all the atrocities of our world, still alhamdulillah—the quieter sister to hallelujah—can be uttered as our final song of gratitude.
Below are some nice words by some very nice people. You can read the full endorsements on my website. And make sure to support their work as well. Thank you to all the authors and poets who read and wrote endorsements.
I would so very appreciate your support in ordering my book and requesting it at your local bookstore (ISBN: 97815949824394), along with my memoir (ISBN: 9781647692926).
If you are feeling called to celebrate with me and help support my book tour efforts, then please sign up for Habibi / Alhamdulillah: Words of Love & Gratitude, a Book Tour Workshop / Fundraiser on August 15th from 10 - 12 MDT. I’ll be reading from my forthcoming books, offering prompts, and then opening up space to share. https://habibialhamdulillah.eventbrite.com
As always, please do not let cost be a barrier or feel as if you must contribute a large amount. I will be happy just to share time with you ❤️🙏
In deep gratitude for being here, for your willingness to walk alongside me, for your enthusiastic and quiet cheers.
With Love,
Moudi
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