Umm Kulthum

What moves you?

I heard an article on NPR about the death of a middle-eastern singer named Umm Kulthum. I’ve never heard of her before, at least not that I know of, but I found the reactions of her fans fascinating. They speak of being “transported” by her songs. They’d leave after a performance and not know where they were.

Does anything move you this much? Books do it for me – sometimes. Movies and music even more rarely. Maybe part of why I love research and writing so much is because THAT is what transports me.

I’ve had a character in the back of my mind for sometime and the late Ms. Kulthum may well help me to understand who my character is. I think I’ll go request some music from the library. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up in the land of my character’s birth. ;D