Saja Kilani recalls her family's Eid celebrations at the Dead Sea as she returns to Jordan for a Vogue Arabia shoot with Montblanc. This visit inspires her writing, as she finds herself composing a poem about the landscape, which holds deeper meaning for her now than in her childhood. "I can stand on this shore and look toward a land my ancestors knew by heart, but my own feet have never touched," she reflects. "There’s a poem somewhere in that distance."
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Kilani's approach to writing is intertwined with her emotions. When asked if poetry has helped her express feelings she struggles to articulate verbally, she responds, "That’s almost every poem I’ve written. Poetry tends to find the words I can’t." She believes poetry expresses thoughts better than she can in conversation.
Her journey into poetry began in theater, where she became confident in performance before discovering Palestinian poet Rafeef Ziadah. Ziadah's work revealed that poetry could be a physical experience, leading Kilani to appreciate spoken word as a blend of writing and performance.
In her writing process, Kilani emphasizes the need to capture inspiration at fleeting moments. "My only ritual is catching the thought before it disappears. Inspiration has terrible timing," she says. Whether prompted by conversations or observations, she uses her Notes app to jot down unfinished ideas. However, she values the use of pen and paper for its ability to foster solitude and focus. "With pen and paper, there is nowhere else to go; you’re alone with the thought," she explains.
Kilani is equally attentive to the words of others, collecting meaningful passages from various sources, including books and the Quran. "I love when a sentence makes you stop for a second. Those are the ones I keep," she notes. She often shares her work with her sisters and, occasionally, with the individuals who inspire her poems.
Even after performing or publishing her poetry, she remains open to revisions, believing the evolution of a poem reflects personal growth. As she prepares to release her first poetry book, Kilani reflects on her past and emphasizes the importance of continuing to write for oneself. "I’d tell her to keep writing, even when it feels like no one is listening," she advises her younger self, hinting at her current opportunities with Vogue and Montblanc.
"The words you once wrote just for yourself will become words people actually want to hear," she concludes.