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Omar Sakr is a bisexual Arab Australian poet, and he wants you to know it.
It's in his Twitter bio, and it's front and centre in the preface to his debut collection of poetry, These Wild Houses:
Now you are about to read the poetry of an Arab Australian, which is a rare thing when it shouldn't be. Now you are about to read the work of a queer Arab Australian, which is a rare thing when it shouldn't be. Now you are about to read the life of a queer Muslim Arab Australian from Western Sydney, from a broke and broken family — not rare, but it should be.
He laughs loudly when I ask him why he doesn't shy away from labels that might box him in.
"I operate on the assumption that I'm going to be labelled anyway. So I'm going to put forward the labels myself to ensure there are no mistakes," he says.
He also proudly proclaims his ethnicity and sexuality for the sake of other queer Arab Australians.
"I'm aware there are very few people like me, and the people out there who are like me tend to be hidden," he says.
"I think it will help if I'm open about it and I do put my identity front and centre — so those people can be less hidden, ignored or erased."
Controlling the Arab Australian narrative
But in his poetry, Sakr pushes back against the narrow stereotypes that can come with certain labels.
One of the first poems in his collection, Here is the Poem You Demand, forces you to question your assumptions about what his life, as an Arab Australian from western Sydney, might be like.
Here is uncouth domestic abuse & plasma televisions,
the marbled fruit of my skin.
Here is the assumed socioeconomic background,
its backyard barbeques, its books, the blues.
He bursts out laughing when I ask him what prompted this poem, then pauses to think before answering.
"Something I think about a great deal is what comes with the label Arab — what stereotypes exist, and what narratives am I potentially reinforcing or subverting with my work," he says.
"I'm aware that I come from a largely poor family, and that there's crime, drugs and murder in my family history.
"At face value, that can reinforce certain negative stereotypes of Arab Australians.
That poem is my way of saying: 'I control this narrative — this is my family, this is my life.'
"Those stereotypes never contain the room for an Arab poet," he continues.
"There is no story that exists about a young Arab in western Sydney, growing up to become a published poet, both here and internationally. There are certainly no stories about queer Arab Australians. So I'm subverting those stereotypes just by existing."
Poetry explores family tensions, coming out
But it's a lonely place. There aren't many other queer Arab Australians poets racing to join Sakr.
While there's a growing number of spoken word and performance poets of Arab heritage, Sakr may be the only Arab Australian poet — queer or straight — with a published collection of poetry.
The most moving poems in Sakr's collection focus on his personal life, delving into family tensions and his fraught relationship to his mother.
"I grew up with my aunty for the first six years of my life," Sakr says.
"I didn't know she was my aunty — I thought she was my mum. Everyone knew except me. Then when I was six, I met my real mum, and that shattered my little world."
Another poem, Call Off Duty, is about his struggle to come out to his brother.
Salaam, I know when you discover my secret
loves, I will lose yours, and the ache of knowing
it gnaws at my bones, this loss I have
yet to bear.
Salaam is knowing
your hatred is foretold, inscribed in Arabic,
in the holiest of text; it is knowing the morning
will dawn when you pretend not to know
my name, when you won't look at my way.
For Sakr, writing these raw poems about the challenges he has faced is surprisingly easy.
"I kind of hesitate to say they're a form of therapy, but I can't afford therapy," he jokes. "It helps in so many ways — it's good for me and it often produces my best work."
Providing a mirror in literature
Sakr is working on his second collection of poetry, and on something that might turn into a novel. But for now, he's just enjoying having his first collection of poetry out in the world.
"It means a lot to me — it means I can be taken a lot more seriously as a poet," he says.
"But it means so much more when I get emails from Arabs, here and abroad, who say to me: 'I didn't know we could do this, I can't believe this is real.'
"When I get those messages, it means the world to me to know that I've provided a mirror in literature for them to see themselves in, something that I didn't have when I was younger.
"It's such an enormous thing that I feel kind of dwarfed by it, but it's amazing."
Topics: author, poetry, performance-art, melbourne-3000, vic, australia