Abdullah Interviews Hamad Al-Zemami

I love books, I love to read and I definitely would LOVE to meet the authors of my favorite books. Its always special to get to sit down with an author, hear his take on something you interpreted from his own words. Its fascinating actually and a very rare experience. To me at least.

Im very pleased to have the kind and talented author Mr.Hamad AlZemami as a guest on p0ach.com

His latest effort, Tarateel, shot to #1 on local charts, critics fell in love with it and sales went pretty well.

This single, 25 years young author, Mr.Hamad was kind enough to share lots of insights into his personal, future perspectives, success story and his philosophy in life.

Try and get to know him yourselves a bit better.

Meet Hamad

Hamad, Speak.
My name is Hamad Bader AlZemami, I’m 25 years of age, a graduate of the Australian College of Kuwait as well as the American University of Kuwait, majoring in Business Management. I currently work at EQUATE as a Human Resources officer.
As for my preferred hobbies, I love reading, traveling, and listening to music. As for writing, it’s my biggest passion. I’m also interested in social & cultural matters, as well as social activities & getting involved in experiences that can add value to my
life. As a person, I try extremely hard to be ahead of my age, to accomplish, and to give more to this world.

What was your childhood like ?
A person’s childhood is often one of the best stages in his or her life because it is one of the purest. My childhood is one of the main reasons to where I am now. I was raised to be someone who can be admired; I think that all parents see their children in that light, but the significant difference in this situation is how each person looks at him/herself and how they deal with it even as a child.
One of the things that my mother once told me was that my speech started at a later age. I used to be a very quiet child and spent most of my time absorbing my surroundings; everything amazed me.

My childhood was more or less filled with the usual innocent mischief, as I was the eldest and only boy in a family of three sisters, which is a fact that has played a big role in the way I was raised.

My grandfather, Khaled AlZemami, is one person with whom I share a very special bond. I derive my strength from the way he helped raise me; he reminds me that I should be strong and patient when the going gets tough. While I was thinking of answers to these interview questions, I recalled the first poem I had written which was dedicated to my grandfather. It was under the title “Al Noukhetha” and I was around twelve years old when I wrote it, and it pleased him so much that he still holds on to it to this day.

What inspired you to tap into who you are now?
I was inspired & motivated in more than one way. I believe that the more important factor is my ambition to aim high, which is something that demands a lot of hard work & creativity. My main goal in life is to try to make this world a better place. This is my approach to life and you may glimpse that in my writing, which always encircles three main topics: our love, our nation, our humanity.
The encounters that I have been through, whether good or bad, have all played a role in creating my personality, till I was convinced that being passionate is a gift on its own. I use this in reality because it can add a lot if I use it to achieve high aims and to deliver my message about humanity.

One last addition: I am a person of principles, and my principles are one thing that I never give up on because a person who gives up on their principles, gives up on themselves.

What differs you from the rest of the competition out there?

The only people who can answer this are my friends and my readers; I cannot judge myself. All I know is that I am a simple man with a deep faith in the message that I am trying to convey through my writing, and that I do not like to attack anyone in specific, but I try my best to my abilities & creativity to commit to society. I enjoy serenity and meditation very much, and I like all people and see them as a valuable treasure: from them I can always learn. I would hate to part ways with any of them, for we are all humans in the end.

Can you please tell us about your latest book Tarateel?
Tarateel is my second book, although I consider it my “real” start. It is a collection of simple poetry that consists of the three previously mentioned topics: love, nation, humanity, and comprises of eighteen different poems.

When I was done writing it, I immediately felt that it was somewhat “blessed”,and I can now see that with my own eyes when I read my fan mail which I receive (and reply to) to this very day.
The most recent Book Fair showed me that people really did enjoy my writing. I felt ecstatic as well as thankful when I saw them asking for me specifically and waiting to talk to me. What those people don’t know is that each of their visits was like a celebration on its own; it meant the world to me. I would especially like to thank my friend Ahmad Al-Ahmad who showed my book in a great, artistic perspective.

What were the difficulties you faced and how did you overcome them?
Let’s replace the word “difficulties” with “choices” instead. The reason I’m saying this is because I think that each obstacle, or
difficulty, is a test from God to test our faith. With this test, one can truly see what he is made of, and it’s these that help a person look inside himself and see something that he might not have seen before.

This puts our strengths and faith to the test.

As for me, I consider my first book as one of the more important tests in my life. It was my first published piece and I didn’t have any experience before it in that area. I had a very hard time when it came to finding publishers because most of them turned me down.

What they didn’t know is that their refusal only made me more determined and in the end I paid for it by myself. Thankfully, the feedback I got back was very positive and the success of my second book “Tarateel” was also due to my faith in myself.

Lastly, I think that God has granted me with success and the love and support of the people
all because I had faith in myself.

If you don’t mind, share with us some of your shocking or controversial moments of your career.
After the success of my first and second books, I received a few offers from publishers who had refused to publish my books in the past, and offered to buy them from me now, but this time I was the one who refused. I then decided to be a freelance writer and to commit my writing to all people and society instead of writing for the sake of profit only.

Whats your support system like ?
God has rewarded me with the love of people for me and my writing, which has pushed my friends, colleagues, and readers to stand by me and support me unconditionally through words of encouragement.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I don’t know exactly where I’m going to be after 5 years from today, but I’m aiming to be a unique, young, Kuwaiti writer, with
different perspectives and discussions concerning our society, and to be a role model to my generation.

Throw something for p0ach readers!
Each person should have a message in life, something they should work hard to achieve, and they should all have faith because once they believe in themselves, everybody else will start to believe in them too.

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