Mercedes de Acosta: “Gibran Was a Great Spiritual Teacher” edited by Francesco Medici and Glen Kalem-Habib Mercedes de Acosta (1892-1968) was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. She was professionally unsuccessful but is known for her many lesbian relationships with famous Broadway and Hollywood personalities and numerous friendships with prominent artists of the period.

by Francesco Medici © Copyright Francesco Medici All Rights Reserved 2019 The Arab-American literary monthly review Al-Funoon (“The Arts”) began publication in April 1913 in New York City by editor and publisher Nasib Aridah,[1] already founder there in 1912 of the “Al-Atlantic Publishing Co.” After 29 issues it ceased publication in August 1918 due to several factors, such as paper supply, lack of subscription payment, manpower availability and World War I.[2]

edited by Francesco Medici and Glen Kalem Kahlil Gibran tried out his early poetry on Josephine Peabody (1874-1922), a fine American poet and dramatist, and instructor in English at Wellesley College from 1901 to 1903. He attempted to explain what he was up to in his Arabic poems to his friend, and took with her his first tottering steps in English composition. One of those immature prose poems remains, dating probably from 1904, among Josephine’s papers in Harvard University Library:

Gibran’s Letters to Antony Bashir by Francesco Medici © Copyright Francesco Medici All Rights Reserved 2019 As a young clergyman, the Lebanese-born Antony (Antonious) Bashir (1898-1966), future Orthodox Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North American archdiocese of the Church of Antioch from 1936 to 1966, was adept at translating from English into Arabic. It was Gibran who chose to entrust Bashir with the Arabic translation of all his English works published by Knopf in New York: The Madman (1918), The Forerunner (1920), The Prophet (1923), Sand and Foam (1926), Jesus, the Son of Man (1928), The Earth Gods (1931). ...