April 2014: Global Arabic Literary Events Calendar

Events will be added as they are scheduled and discovered. Please add your own by posting in the comments or emailing, although note the events focus on Arabic literature in translation:

(opening before) April 1

Triangles: Playing across Amharic, Arabic, and English: A Festival-in-Progress of Theatre and Audiences Together (Beirut, Lebanon)

Triangles is a festival-in-progress that translates, workshops, and reimagines three plays through a series of residencies and public encounters in Beirut and New York and an array of collaborations with groups and artists in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the United States, and beyond. More on the opening here.

April 1

US Launch of Gaza Writes Back (Philadelphia, USA)

The Gaza Writes Back team will be traveling to multiple US cities, including Philadelphia, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. More on Gaza Writes Back. A full schedule.

April 2

Workshop on Poetry from Mauritania by Mbarka Mint al Barra’ (London, England)

At 6:30 p.m., the Poetry Translation Centre will host a workshop translating poetry by Mbaraka Mint al Barra’. More on how to sign up. More on the PTC.

Celebration of an Etel Adnan reader (NYC, USA)

This event, set for 8-10 p.m., is “A celebration (readings, projected images, food and wine) of the publication of To look at the sea is to become what one is: An Etel Adnan Reader (Nightboat Books), a landmark two-volume edition of Adnan’s work from the infernal elegies of the 1960s to the ethereal meditations of her later poems.” More on the event.

April 3

Saudi novelist Raja Alem at the Festival di letteratura internazionale Incroci di civiltà (Venice, Italy)

At 2:30, International Prize for Arabic Fiction-winning novelist Raja Alem will speak with Ida Zilio Grandi. More on the event at editoriaraba.

Hassan Blasim at “War from the Inside: A Reading with Hassan Blasim, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, and Roy Scranton” (Princeton, USA)

“These readings seek to open up a conversation between the Iraqi point of view, represented by Hassan Blasim, author of The Corpse Exhibition, the Afghan point of view, represented by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya’s book about the war in Afghanistan,The Watch, and the point of view of American soldiers, represented by Roy Scranton’s edited collection Fire and Forget.” More here.

April 3-4

The CMES Working Group on Middle East Literature in Transition: New Frontiers in the 21st Century (Boston, USA)

A two-day conference organized by William Granara includes talks by translators (translator-author Sinan Antoon will give the keynote) and Arabic-literature specialists from around the US. More on the conference.

April 5

Syrian writer Salwa al-Neimi  at the Festival di letteratura internazionale Incroci di civiltà (Venice, Italy) 

Salwa al-Neimi, author of The Proof of Honey, will speak with Gabrielle Gamberini.  More on the event at editoriaraba.

April 7

“Autobiography in Arabic Literature” (Cairo, Egypt)

Dwight Reynolds will give lecture on “Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in Arabic Literature.”6-8 p.m., the AUC’s Oriental Hall, at the Tahrir Campus. More on the event.

April 9

Hassan Blasim speaks at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. (West Point, USA)

April 16

Reading of Rachida Madani’s Tales of a Severed Head (NYC, USA)

Rachida Madani with Pierre Joris. More here.

April 17

Hassan Blasim (New York City, USA)

“Iraqi author Hassan Blasim’s collection of stories captures his war torn nation in savage, surreal images. Reviewers compare him to Carlos Fuentes, Rod Serling and Nikolai Gogol and call his stories ‘shocking, urgent, vital literature.’  Begins at 7:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 86th & Lexington Ave, 150 East 86th Street, New York, NY 10028.

April 22

NINITI International Literature Festival (Erbil, Iraq)

A variety of events and appearance by Scottish, English, Kurdish, Arab, and other poets. More here. 

April 23

NINITI International Literature Festival (Erbil, Iraq)

A variety of events and appearance by Scottish, English, Kurdish, Arab, and other poets. More here. 

April 24

NINITI International Literature Festival (Erbil, Iraq)

A variety of events and appearance by Scottish, English, Kurdish, Arab, and other poets. More here. 

April 28

PEN World Voices Festival: Opening Night with Adonis and Yahya Hassan (NYC, USA)

The PEN World Voices festival kicks off with a night “on the edge” with Adonis and Yahya Hassan, among others. More about the events. Hopefully this year will make for a more raucus, more international event. See: PEN World Voices: Which Voices?

April 29

International Prize for Arabic Fiction winner announced (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

The winner will be chosen from the shortlist of six and announced in Abu Dhabi and, of course, on this site.

PEN World Voices Festival: Masterclass with Adonis and Khaled Mattawa (NYC, USA)

A class with two acclaimed poets. More here.

Lina Saneh/Rabih Mroué: 33 RPM and a Few Seconds (NYC, USA)

April 30

Launch of Land of No Rain at the Mosaic Rooms (London, England)

The launch of Amjad Nasser’s acclaimed Land of No Rain, trans. Jonathan Wright. More here.

Opening of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

This year’s fair will see many celebrated authors from around the world. More here.

AUC Press Book Club, “The Book Alley,” Meets to Discuss The Committee (Cairo, Egypt)

The Book Alley (the AUC Press book club) will meet to discuss “The Committee,” the Kafkaesque Egyptian novel by Sonallah Ibrahim, translated by Mary St. Germain and Charlene Constable (AUC Press, 2002). More here.

Lina Saneh/Rabih Mroué: 33 RPM and a Few Seconds (NYC, USA)

Known for their experimental and controversial works, acclaimed Lebanese theater artists Rabih Mroué and Lina Saneh reconstruct the final moments of a person’s life. More on the event.