Mohamad J Hodeib (el-Walad)

Mohamad J Hodeib (el-Walad) is the last surviving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. He is a writer, researcher, and cultural activist, born and raised in Beirut. His work encompasses sociopolitical narratives and multidisciplinary art experimentation. He came out to the world as frontman, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist of Lebanese Rock band Wled el-Balad, but he soon put the guitar down, came to terms with his epic failure as a singer, and took to MC-ing, slamming, and occasionally emitting incomprehensible expressions of noise. Affiliated with several art circles in Beirut & abroad, he founded el-Yafta literary community in Beirut (2011) through which he hosted & organized numerous poetry/performance sessions, events, and workshops. He was a featured speaker in forums like TEDxLAU, TEDxAUB, & AltCity in Beirut and featured twice as The Poet In New York at Bowery Poetry Club, New York. Hodeib staged two shows, Mahrajan al-Shob (Heat Parade, 2012) & B’intithar al-Harb al-Qadima (Waiting for the Next War, 2013), and published Al-Shaware’ (the streets) a collection of Arabic colloquial poems in 2013. He is currently based in New York, where he is completing an MA in Middle East Studies at the Graduate Center (CUNY). He continues to perform and organize art-projects and events, including Dialect-ics @ Bowery Poetry Club. He does not claim to be a revolutionary, but never misses a good chance for some rabble rousing.