News (Page 2)

Dear Organizers, Fellow participants and Audience members of 2011 Diwan, Thank you all very much for a memorable experience. It was wonderful meeting many of you in person and getting acquainted with your high caliber work. The forum was a great personal experience for me as an Artist and as a Middle Eastern woman living in New York. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to share the stage with such excellent fellow artist/performers, show a sample of my new work to those present and hear feedback about it in public and privately. It has been an empowering experience and I look forward to many more toRead More →

Sad to report that poet Hayan Charara has had to cancel his 2011 DIWAN appearance due to personal reasons. Remi Kanazi has graciously agreed to step into Hayan’s slot for the 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 25 session WE ARE THE EARTH: HOME, HOMELESSNESS AND TERRAIN, A READING, in the Recital Hall at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Khaled Mattawa will moderate the session, which includes readings by Elmaz Abinader, Deema K. Shehabi, and now, Remi Kanazi. Remi Kanazi is a poet, writer, and activist based in New York City. He is the editor of Poets For Palestine  and the author of the newly released collection ofRead More →

The recent democratic revolutions taking place in the Arab World will be the focus of an informal discussion during the scheduled DIWAN Unconference session, taking place at 2 p.m. Friday, March 25, in room C198 at The Graduate Center, CUNY. 2011 DIWAN Coordinator Holly Arida will moderate; 2011 DIWAN artists TBA will take part in the session. This is guaranteed to be a lively and fascinating event! Don’t miss it!Read More →

“LEND ME AN I.D.” by Nora Armani presented at DIWAN 2011 on Friday, March 25 @ 2pm. Synopsis: The play centers on one woman’s quest for an identity and belonging in her pursuit of a meaningful and fulfilling life away from her Homeland. Sorting through the pieces of a multicultural provenance and existence, Nora’s journey takes us from Cairo, her birthplace, from even before she was born, all the way to New York where she currently resides. The play touches upon personal life coincidences and external events that shape her destiny and identity. In the process of a ‘successful integration’ where she gradually replaces ‘marginality’Read More →

IN THE CROSSING, A new play by Leila Buck Sunday, March 27 2011 Noon-2 p.m. The Living Theatre 21 Clinton Street at East Houston New York, NY 10009 Subway: F to 2nd Avenue; Bus: M21 to Houston, M9 to Avenue B Click HERE to buy advance tickets, $18, online. Leila, a Lebanese-American writer/performer, and her husband Adam, an artist from a Jewish family, have been invited here by Joan, the president of the board (and Adam’s aunt) to present their experiences in Lebanon during the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war.  But as the evening unfolds in unexpectedly humorous and dangerous ways, the biggest conflict this family mustRead More →

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is seeking artistic presentations and proposals for panels and papers for its DIWAN: A Forum for the Arts being held for the first time in New York City at the Graduate Center for the City University of New York (365 Fifth Avenue) March 25-26, 2011. AANM is pleased to partner with Alwan for the Arts as well the Middle East and Middle East American Center (MEMEAC) at the Graduate Center, CUNY, to build an exciting program for its fourth DIWAN conference, in its ongoing commitment to convene and generate a national dialogue among artists and academicians about the stateRead More →