Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project organizer (and poet) Beau Beausoleil said in a recent email update:
“I always say that Iraq is the darkest room in the house of the United States, and that this project is but one small lamp in one far off corner, and that we simply refuse to walk away from al-Mutanabbi Street. And as you can see there are other small lamps in that room as well, and we are all inching closer together, towards illuminating more and more of that room for everyone to see.”
A few of those lamps:
UK
London
The Iraqi Cultural Centre in London is holding an event in commemoration of the bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street in participation with the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here coalition. Begins 6:30 p.m.
Janet Bradley will give a brief introduction, followed by readings (including Mirian Halamy, Ibtesam Al-Tahir, Fred Feigel reading a poem by Al-Mutanabbi, Anmar Al Gaboury reading an excerpt from his late father’s work, and Margaret Cooter) a 15-minute film by Amal al-Jubouri, and an exhibition of books.
US
San Francisco
The San Francisco Center for the Book is featuring 54 pieces from the “Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” project in its “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Book Art Exhibit” February 1 – May 11, 2013 at 375 Rhode Island (at 16 Street), San Francisco, 94103.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the war in Iraq and the sixth anniversary of the Al-Mutanabbi Street bombing, The San Francisco Center for the Book will host an evening of poetry, film, art and conversation from 6-9 pm on March 5. 2013.
Cambridge, Mass.
Anthology Reading: Al Mutanabbi Street Stars Here; Thursday, March 7, 2013, 6pm at the CAC Gallery, CAC Gallery, 344 Broadway, Cambridge.
Presented with Sarah Browning & Persis Karim Poets Kazim Ali, Alise Alousi, Amaranth Borsuk, Sarah Browning, Persis Karim, Philip Metres, Terese Svoboda will each read his or her own poem from the anthology and another poem in the book, with an emphasis on Iraqi voices. Presented in collaboration with Split This Rock, a national nonprofit organization of poets, artists, and activists based in Washington, D.C.
New York City
Alwan for the Arts is hosting a Festival of Iraqi Culture March 9-16. There are no literary events, but film, music, architecture, multimedia arts and more. More.
