Episode 36: My Country is the Page: Moudi Sbeity on the generative power of language

Episode 36: My Country is the Page: Moudi Sbeity on the generative power of language

From Return the Key: Jewish Questions for Everyone by Julie Carr

May 28, 2026 · 1h 4m · Season 3 · Episode 15

About this episode

Moudi Sbeity discusses his experiences with language, identity, and faith as a Lebanese-American poet and educator.

In episode #36 I talk with Lebanese-American poet, author, and contemplative educator, Moudi Sbeity. His forthcoming memoir,  Habibi Means Beloved , has many stories including foundational experiences of loneliness which become, for Moudi, sources of wisdom and belonging. Moudi talks about growing up in Lebanon, just after the civil war, as a gay kid who stuttered. He discusses what stuttering teaches him about the value and power of words, their ability to not just describe but to create our reality. We talk about his process of coming out in Lebanon and why he felt he had to “break up with God” in order to do so. At age 18, because of the 2006 Israel-Lebanese war, Moudi (an American citizen) was evacuated to live with family in Utah. We talk about Moudi’s complicated feelings about being a plaintiff in Kitchen v. Herbert, the case which brought marriage equality to Utah and the 10th circuit states. In 2020, Moudi found his way back to Islam through Sufism, and on his own terms. I ask him what God is to him (and he answers!). We end by asking whether “God-stuff” is “only” language, and if so, what does that actually mean? And then, we read each other some poems by Gerard…

People in this episode

Host: Julie Carr

Guest: Moudi Sbeity

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Habibi Means Beloved, My Country Is This Page, Pied Beauty, Our Real Work, Fluent

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