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On Investigating Our Multicultural Identities and Speaking with an Accent
There’s so much identity wrapped up in language. For many of my voice coaching clients for whom English is a second language, there’s a feeling of insecurity around how they’re perceived. We discuss all this and more with Zenia Azzam.
An artistic life lived at the intersection between languages and cultures: Zeina Azzam, a deeply thoughtful presence, reads several of her visually evocative poems. We discuss synesthesia, Zeina’s experience of speaking under threatening circumstances, how we often pour our identity into our accents, and how the experience of speaking publicly has been a process of moving from fear to empowerment.
In This Podcast About ‘Investigating Our Multicultural Identities and Speaking with an Accent’ You’ll Learn:
- About Zeina’s work as a Palestinian American Poet and activist and how her voice plays a major role in that
- How do you pass on the culture and the language to the next generation
- About synesthesia and the taste of words
- How Zeina used her voice when afraid
- How to make every voice moment an empowered one
- How We Change Use Accent to Feel More Comfortable
- About honoring your identity with your language
Here’s a glance at this episode:
Being of Two cultures, Having Multiple Languages
Zeina Reads Her Poem A Language for Colors
The Taste of Words (Elif Shafak) & Synethesia
Zeina Shares About an Incredibly High Stakes Speaking Moment
The Vulnerable Empowerment of Reading Your Own Poetry!
Zeina Reads A Poem About Aging
The Power of Nature in Zeina’s Work
The Voice Zeina Most Loves and Why
Zeina Reads a Poem About Her Daughter
How I Learned the Voice is the Crux of Everything
How We Change Use Accent to Feel More Comfortable
The Importance of Honoring Our Names
Click here to listen.
About Zeina Azzam
Zeina Azzam is a Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist. She is the poet laureate of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, for 2022-25. Her poems appear in a number of literary journals, anthologies, and edited volumes and her chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between, was published in 2021 by The Poetry Box. Zeina holds an MA in Arabic literature from Georgetown University, an MA in sociology from George Mason University, and a BA in psychology from Vassar College
How to find Zeina
Here is Zeina’s website: https://www.zeinaazzam.com/
If you are interested in her daughter Lena’s music, check out Lena’s website: https://www.lenaseikaly.com/
Here’s where to buy her work: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AZeina+Azzam&s=relevancerank&text=Zeina+Azzam&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
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