For Leila Chatti, poetry is "this ever-changing, living thing.”
She writes to process her thoughts and perceptions with complexity — “how to process things, how to grieve.”
And she notes that her faith has influenced the way she communicates her ideas through poetry.
“I think that the reason I liked poems, as opposed to maybe prose, is that I grew up with nursery rhymes,” Chatti said. “I grew up with the Quran, which is very musical in its language.”
The Tunisian-American Chatti will visit the University of South Florida Tampa campus on Thursday to meet with students and hold a public poetry reading.
Chatti's visit — held during National Poetry Month — was organized by the USF Humanities Institute and is the first in its Garry Fleming Endowment for Poetry guest series.
Her 2020 full-length debut is a collection of poetry that frames medical and religious imagery in a personal narrative about womanhood, illness, and faith.
“I think I'm less concerned now with people understanding me. But I hope that what I've come to understand about myself might help someone understand something about themselves.”Leila Chatti
It's been awarded a few prestigious literary honors, including the Levis Reading Prize and the 2021 Luschei Prize for African Poetry.
“My first collection, 'Deluge,' is very much about my health and my illness, but it was also inextricable from my experience as a woman navigating institutions — both medical and academic — that are patriarchal and really misogynistic,” said Chatti, who suffered from two uterine tumors that resulted in chronic bleeding when she was in her 20s.
Chatti said writing about an “ultra specific” narrative has helped her articulate the complexities of her experiences. She wants it to affect readers in similar way, too.
“I think I'm less concerned now with people understanding me,” Chatti said. “But I hope that what I've come to understand about myself might help someone understand something about themselves.”
Chatti calls her second full-length collection of poetry, due next year through Copper Canyon Press, a “scary, but fun book” that she “didn't really mean to write.”
“I just loved the idea of telling a story, but telling it in a way that sounded beautiful, that you could sort of sing along to, or that you could memorize,” Chatti said.
Chatti values visiting writer opportunities, like her upcoming engagement at USF, because she can engage with aspiring writers directly.
“I love the energy that students bring, they're thinking about things in interesting ways,” Chatti said.
“I've never, ever been in the classroom and not left feeling inspired, so I selfishly just love being part of that.”
Chatti, who is now pursuing a Ph.D at the University of Cincinnati, says she is fortunate for her past literary opportunities and publications. But she also finds it important to demystify the concept of a "working writer" in the 21st century.
She was originally a special education teacher, but writing became more sustainable after pursuing graduate studies.
“I’ve been lucky in that writing has been my main source of income, but with a lot of writers, writing is their main career — and it might not be what necessarily pays their bills,” Chatti said.
But she also said facing countless publishing rejections shaped her career and how she viewed her purpose as a writer.
“I always try to pass that along to other writers," Chatti said, "especially folks from backgrounds that have not been championed historically, that you don't need to wait for permission.”
Chatti’s work has already resonated with a significant group of USF students. She was even chosen as the series' inaugural poet by members of the USF writing community.
To find more information about Leila Chatti’s work and public poetry reading on Thursday, visit the USF Humanities Institute’s event page.
