Fouad Naaman El-Khoury Launched his New Poetry Book “O Keeper of the Flame”
By Marcelle Mansour OAM
The poet Fouad Naaman al-Khoury launched his new poetry book titled at a ceremony, Bankstown library, Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown on Wednesday, 10 April 2019. The new book is in Arabic titled “يا حارس الجمرة “, meaning in English “O Keeper of the Flame”.
At the City of Canterbury Bankstown Council, Sydney’s south-western suburbs, the literary event was attended by the Regional President of World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU) – Michel Douweihi, Vice President of the Maronite Catholic Society- Sarkis Karam, the visiting Reverend Fr Jean Jabbour from the Lebanese Maronite Order (LMO), Representatives of “Free Patriotic Movement”, ‘Future Movement“, “Lebanese Forces Party”, “Marada Movement”, Liberal Democrats Party”, “Independence Movement”, and activists and a crowd of the community members.
After both national Australian and Lebanese anthems, Dr. Emad Berro gave a speech on behalf of the Friends Committee, Farah Assafiri performed the MC of the event, The Visual Artist, Writer and the book cover designer of the new book-Marcelle Mansour gave literary analysis speech about Fouad Neeman El-Khoury’s Poetry describing the relationship that provided the common grounds between the image of her artwork titled “Elevation” on his book cover and his poem of “O Keeper of the Flame.”
“Featured Poets; Albert Wehbe, George Mansour, and Seyed Mikhail read their own poems aloud. The speakers praised the admirable quality work of Fouad Neeman El-Khoury as a great poet, and his pioneering role in the poetry of the Contemporary Lebanese Dialect school like Said Akl, Morris Awad, Yunis Ibn, and Al-Rahbani.
The Celebration ended with the performance of the poet El-Khoury who recited some of his new and old poems and thanked all those who contributed to the success of the literary event celebration. Afterward, the audience enjoyed the moments of cutting the cake with the poet and socializing.
I had the honor to participate in a literary speech at the book launch, and to have the image of my artwork published on the book cover. Congratulations to the poet Fouad Neeman El-Khoury for launching his new poetry book “O Keeper of the Flame”, and best wishes for more success.