In this episode, we hop over to New York to encounter our Dead Lady of the hour, May Ziadeh, a Lebanese-Palestinian poet, writer, translator, and feminist, whose work explored themes of love, identity, and the liberation of women. Books were her beloved companions throughout her life, and proved more steadfast than people. May began writing at an early age, started an important literary salon, and had moments of fame, but is perhaps better known for the years of isolation and tragedy that marked her life. She deserves more. May wrote in her diary: “After my death, I hope that someone will do me justice and find the sincerity and honesty contained in my small writings.”  

Our presenter is Rosana Elkhatib, a designer, researcher, and curator. She is a co-founding principal of feminist architecture collaborative f-architecture and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.  

DLS co-founder Katy Derbyshire joins host/producer Susan Stone to introduce the talk.

Thanks to the team at Dead Ladies NYC for sharing this presentation with us: Molly O’Laughlin Kemper, Sheila Enright, Christopher Neil and the KGB Bar’s Lori Schwarz. 

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.

Show notes:

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">May at her desk</figcaption></figure>

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Title page of May’s first book, published in French under a pseudonym in 1911</figcaption></figure>

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">May in a hat</figcaption></figure>

<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">May Ziadeh got a Google Doodle in 2012</figcaption></figure>

Read three of May’s poems in English translation here: https://losangelesreview.org/3-poems-translated-rose-demaris/

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