Suzy Kassem, born in Toledo, Ohio (December 1, 1975), is an American author, filmmaker, philosopher, cultural critic, essayist, and poet of Egyptian descent.
Her first book, Rise Up and Salute the Sun, amassed a cult following shortly after its release in the US market (2011) and Egypt (2010). The book was described by Publisher's Weekly as "a mix between Khalil Gibran's The Prophet and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist."
In addition to her writing, Kassem has worked as a music video and commercial director in Hollywood for over nine years. Her first film, Harmony Parker, a 40-minute short introducing Madison Davenport, tells the story of a little girl who is given an old music box for her seventh birthday and quickly discovers how the vibrational power of music can transform situations of conflict into peace.
Kassem studied business, filmmaking, and creative writing at the University of Toledo and Harvard. The earliest years of her childhood were spent attending international boarding schools in Switzerland, living across Europe and the Middle East, and traveling the world with her father, who designed MBA and PhD programs for many prominent universities. For this reason, her intellectual and artistic contributions are colored with strong universal themes promoting love and the brotherhood of mankind. Two books that have played a major role in awakening her heart and influencing her as a kid were The Lord of the Flies and The Diary of Anne Frank--and later on, Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth. Her favorite authors are Naguib Mahfouz and Khaled Hosseini.
With a penchant for writing about truth and the human condition, Suzy Kassem is well- versed in bridging the local and the global, concrete and the universal, east and west, and the divine with the material. As a social reformer, she uses her confluence of words to arouse public awareness regarding national and social issues, while also exploring topics related to everyday life, such as spirituality, love, and the fulfillment of dreams and destiny. Her insightful storytelling touches the soul, the conscience, all senses of awareness, and the vitality of existence in a manner that is unparalleled in both simplicity and style. As a world citizen, she uses different voices to communicate common street and world sentiments across all age groups - using commonalities of the heart to build cultural and generational bridges towards global understanding.
A prolific voice in global street culture since the late 90's, Suzy Kassem's words still continue to resonate across the internet, on street walls, and in published works circulating in all languages around the globe.
Visit her website at: www.suzykassem.com
