New Work!
The newest book from the Stories of Arrival: Refugee and Immigrant Youth Voices Poetry Project
We Are the Future: Poems with A Voice for Peace
Now available in a limited edition. Publication as a trade book is slated for late spring, 2021 by Seattle's Chin Music Press. Proceeds from this full color book of heartfelt poems and striking images will directly benefit the Stories of Arrival project.
Contact Merna to purchase one of the limited copies.
“The lived experiences of these young souls is stunning to learn about through their own words - at times it is overwhelming to know what harm has happened to them and their families in their early life journeys. It is also an amazing testament to their resilience and sense of hope for the future.”
Kate Kruller Council President, Tukwila City Council
"Reading the book, looking at the poets' beautiful faces fills me with hope. Thank you for creating spaces for them to believe in themselves. Thank you for inspiring us!"
WA State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna
Bridging Borders with Words: Writing with Immigrants and Refugees
Merna’s article, “Poems Without Borders: Writing to Bear Witness” is part of a series in Teachers & Writers Magazine on writers working with immigrants and refugees. Read Merna’s full article here on her work with refugee women in Athens, Greece.
Holding the Earth Together: Youth Voices Speak for Our World
The groundbreaking Stories of Arrival Refugee & Immigrant Youth Poetry Project is in its seventh year in Seattle, and this anthology offers the fruit of dozens of students' efforts as English Language Learners to put their wrenching experiences of migration into words, using the power of poetry and the tools of art.
Our Table of Memories invites readers to consider the spicy, delicious connections between food, poetry and stories. The food-themed poetry and recipes are part of an exciting first-time collaboration between Project Feast and the Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices Poetry Project, edited and directed by Merna Ann Hecht. Both serve to help refugees and immigrants share their strengths and experiences, and by doing so, literally and metaphorically nourish the larger community.
Additional Articles:
“The Taste of Home: Food Themed Poetry with Refugee and Immigrant Students,” Teachers and Writers Magazine. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 2016
“Writing through Trauma: Inside a Person’s Heart: Finding Solace from Stories and Poems,” Teachers and Writers Magazine. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, Spring 2013, Vol. 44 / No. 3. (Reprinted in Diving into the Moon: The National Storytelling Network Healing Stories Alliance Magazine, 2015).
“Stories of Arrival: A Poetry Project with Immigrant and Refugee High School Students,” Teachers and Writers Magazine. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, Vol. 42 / No. 3, Spring 2011.
“A Storytelling Space for Sheltering Sorrow and Hope,” Storytelling Magazine, Spring, 2010.
“How Long Peace Takes: Writing about World Issues Using the Work of Naomi Shihab Nye,” Teachers and Writers Magazine. New York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, Vol. 41 / No. 1, Fall 2009
Merna’s poetry has appeared in journals, anthologies and websites including
Making Mirrors: Righting and Writing Refugees, (anthology); WA 129: Poems Selected by Tod Marshall, State Poet Laureate, (anthology); Diving Into the Moon: The National Storytelling Healing Stories Alliance Magazine; Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Global Justice and on the web King County Library, System Wide Poetry Contest, winning poem: 2020; King County 4 Culture Poetry on Buses Writing Home Collection, winning poem; Split This Rock, featured poet