April is Arab American Heritage Month, and Ripples of Exile, a lecture by Susan Muaddi Darraj on April 14, was a celebration of this. The program was sponsored by the Middle East studies department, the English department and the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies department. Ripples of Exile consisted of a literary reading from Darraj’s book “Behind You is the Sea,” a mosaic novel — short stories written by different narrators that have a common theme. “Behind You is the Sea” was named one of 2024’s Best Book by The Washington Post, NPR, Ms. Magazine, and The New Yorker. 

Mireille Rebeiz, associate professor of French and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and chair of Middle East Studies, introduced the event. She detailed the beauty of Arab American Heritage Month, consisting of culture, food, love and family. She followed by saying, “No matter if the White House recognizes this month, we will celebrate.” Rebeiz also highlighted Darraj’s Palestinian background, her intelligence and the impact she shares through her writing. 

Darraj began the lecture reminiscing on her background. She discussed the positives of her Palestinian childhood, mirroring the words spoken by Rebeiz early: culture, food, love and family. Darraj specifically acknowledged her Palestinian childhood as a piece of herself that is beneficial for understanding others. With struggle came understanding for Darraj. 

Darraj stated that anti-Arabism became obvious to her when she was in high school, after the first Gulf War. She acknowledged that a significant amount of hate was projected onto her from the government, media and people around her — all directed at her and other Arabs. Darraj uses the beauty and pain of being Palestinian to create, entertain and inform. Darraj stated that she combats erasure through her stories, mainly for children, but also for adults, which consistently feature Arab characters. She works to create real representation of her community.