This Sweet Rupture unflinchingly explores interwoven themes of family secrets, diaspora, food culture, and the impact of war on personal narratives. Rooted in Omar Ramadan’s lived experiences and observations as a first-generation son of Lebanese immigrants in Canada, these poems draw inspiration from untold and withheld family stories and histories, and from gestures of gratitude and friendship that come from breaking bread together in times of celebration and in times of grief. Set in and reflective of locations and events in Canada, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates, the collection weaves together intergenerational exchanges and present-day realities, swerving from sweetened tea preparations to conversations about remembered conflict zones to investigations of Western Canadian blizzards. The book speaks to Arab father-son relationships and weaves Arabic text into its dialogues and contexts, reflecting the hybridity of its speakers and their shifting senses of place: within Canada, within remembered spaces of origin, and within the evolving international diasporas and immigrant descendants about which the book reflects. Resonant and intricate, This Sweet Rupture navigates dualities of cultural identity and the intersections of war, memory, and family.

Omar Ramadan is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, poet, aspiring novelist, and PhD Candidate in the Department of English at the University of Calgary. His work and research revolve around Arab diaspora literature, particularly focused on systems of power, surveillance, and the lasting impact of 9/11 on Arab and Muslim communities in Canada. He is the author of the chapbook Sesame Love and his work has appeared in CV2 and The Polyglot. He lives in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton).

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