Poet Profile

Rita Odeh

I have B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Haifa University. I am a high school teacher for English and Creative Writing in my town.  I write poetry, short stories, novels and literary articles.  I am fond of writing short poems, haiku, tanka and creating haiga.  Many of my poems and short stories, as well as some literary articles and book reviews and translated texts, have been published in a number of journals and newspapers in my country as well as online journals.  I was chosen to be a contributor for Daily Haiku in the 5th cycle: April 2008 to September 2008.  My haiku have been published in Daily Haiku, Simply Haiku, tinywords and other journals.

Awards and Other Honors: First place, Shiki Monthly Kukai (November, 2007); Winning Haiku, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (2008); Several winning Haiga in World Haiku Association monthly contests.

Books Published: In English: Watching the Buds of Dream [haiku] (lulu.com, 2006); In Arabic - Poetry: Revolution Against Silence (Ministry of Education, Nazareth, 1994); Mirrors of Illusion (Municipal High School, Nazareth, 1998); A Diary of a Gypsy Lover (Arab Cultural Organization, Cairo, 2000); Who Doesn't Know Rita..!? (Arab Cultural Organization, Cairo, 2003); One Tear Before Getting Suffocated (Arab Cultural Organization, Cairo, 2005); I Will Try You Once More (Palestinian House of Poetry, Ram Allah, 2008); I am Your Dizziness [a collection of short stories] (Palestinian House of Poetry, Ram Allah, 2009). In Arabic –Novels [e-books at Modern Discussion, http://www.ahewar.org/m.asp?i=75]: Blessed Be The Strangers (2007); Violets of Alienation (2008); The Symphony of Return (2010).

cherry blossoms . . .
a child asks
if they are real

that full moon . . .
a coin falls into
the beggar's palm

refugee camp—
sculpting the tree trunk
into a cross

autumn morning—
strutting behind his shadow
the old turkey

peace talk—
the third crow
of a rooster

waning moon—
on her mourning dress,
a white pacifier

Credits: "cherry blossoms" - Sakura Award Winner, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (2008); "refugee camp" - Simply Haiku 5:2 (2007); "peace talk" - Daily Haiku (August 4, 2008); "that full moon" - Daily Haiku (May 15, 2008); "autumn morning" - Winner, Shiki Monthly Kukai Kigo Section (November 2007); "waning moon" - Daily Haiku (August 5, 2008).