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 "Sovereign Threads: the History of Palestinian Embroidery" at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, through Oct. 8, 2006 Sovereign Threads |
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 "The Arab/Muslim Revolution: the Middle East & the West" a conference with Islamic scholar Reza Aslan and Middle East historian Mark LeVine See Calendar, Jan. 12, 2006 |
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 Global Frequency concert att the Levantine Cultural Center, Fri., Dec. 2! Featuring Naked Rhythm, MC RAI and Antoneus Maximus & the Nuthouze Band. Advance tix $10. Reserve now. |
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 Don't miss the next Sultans of Satire show on Thurs., Dec. 15, and read about the first one... Middle East Comic Relief, Thurs., Nov. 17, 8 pm. Click here. |
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 Levantine Cultural Center cosponsored the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival, which included several films with Middle Eastern themes or subjects. |
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 The Naser Musa-Adam del Monte Ensemble performed Arab-flamenco fusion on Dec. 19, 2004. Click here for info. |
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 Iraqi-American Playwright and Actor Heather Raffo and Her One-Woman Show, "Nine Parts of Desire," Are the Talk of New York and Los Angeles |
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Articles
of Note
Palestinian Samia Dodin Talks to Israeli Sami Shalom Chetrit Lian Ensemble Concert Review Turkish news: Snow—the new novel by Orhan Pamuk Can Jews/Arabs Make Peace Through Music? By Ghada Karmi In Search of Fatima—a review of Ghada Karmi's memoir "Heart" of Arab Music by Jim Motavalli Persians on the Pacific by Tara Bahrampour Tariq Ali On Poetry In Turbulent Times in the Mideast (audio) |
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Al-Andalus
to Jerusalem:
Levantine Festival at the John Anson Ford  Al-Andalus with Tariq Banzi, Julie Banzi and flamenco dancer Ana Montes Click Here To Read Three Articles on the Concert |
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Levantine
Cultural Center announces the relaunch of its BookGroup, meeting at the
end of January 2007 and once each month in Los Angeles (location TBA).
The first selection is The Yacoubian Building (HarperCollins
2005) by Alaa Al Aswany. Notes its U.S. publisher, "This controversial
bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption,
sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today.
"All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian
Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying
in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed
"scientist of women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young
student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper
editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician,
twisting the Koran to justify his desires.
"These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa
Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality
and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience
of loss and love in the Arab world."
Recently made into a
feature film, directed by Marwan Hamed, this novel has been translated
into over a dozen languages. Read/listen
to an NPR piece on the book and the film.
• Purchase
a copy online through NPR/Amazon.
•
More about the book and its author.
• A Words
Without Borders review
.
Also
recommended as a companion book is So
What,
New and Selected Poems, 1971-2005 by Taha Muhammad Ali, recently
published by Copper Canyon Press. Poems from this collection will be discussed
along with the main selection. Notes the publisher, "Taha Muhammad
Ali is a revered Palestinian poet whose work is driven by vivid imagination,
disarming humor, and unflinching honesty.
"As a boy, war forced his family into exile, but rather than turning
to a protest poetry of black–and–white slogans to convey this
loss, he creates art of the highest order. His poems portray experiences
ranging from catastrophe to splendor, each preserving an essential human
dignity. "
Read more/order a copy.
BookGroup participants should bring their recommendations for the February
selection, including actual copies if they already have them, to the January
gathering.
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Previous
BookGroup Selections
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The
Map of Love by
Ahdaf Soueif
With her first novel, In the Eye of the Sun, Ahdaf Soueif garnered compari-sons to Tolstoy, Flaubert, and George Eliot. In her latest novel, which was shortlisted for Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, she combines the romantic skill of the nineteenth-century novelists with a very modern sense of culture and politics—both sexual and international. At either end of the twentieth century, two women fall in love with men outside their familiar worlds. Joining the romance and intricate storytelling of A.S. Byatt's Possession and Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, Ahdaf Soueif has once again created a mesmerizing tale of genuine eloquence and lasting importance. Ahdaf Soueif's new novel is a story of what it is to be divided, poised between two lives. She explores the changing relationship between Egypt and Britain in the twentieth century and tells the compelling story of a doomed cross-cultural love affair, recreating the Romantic Hero of Byronic legend in an utterly original contemporary style. Ahdaf Soueif was born in Egypt in 1950. From the age of four to eight, she lived in England while her mother studied for her PhD at London University, learning to read from English classics, Little Grey Rabbit, and English comics, as well as The Arabian Nights. She returned to England in 1973 to study for a doctorate in linguistics at Lancaster University. Her first book was a collection of short stories, Aisha, published in 1983 and shortlisted for The Guardian Fiction Award. She has since written In the Eye of the Sun (Bloomsbury 1992) and Sandpiper (Bloomsbury 1996). She is married to the poet and biographer Ian Hamilton, has two children and now divides her time between England and Egypt. Recommended reading, along with The Map of Love: "Publishing in the West: Problems and Prospects For Arab Women Writers" By Amal Amireh, Al Jadid Magazine More about the author: Arab World books Contemporary Writers Read a book review by Andrea Perkins |
Crescent
by Diana Abu-Jaber |
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More
Books We Have Read
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 THE CYCLIST by Viken Berberian (Simon & Schuster, 2002), 188 pp., $22.00. Order your copy today! Terrorist or trickster? Viken Berberian’s novel is an original meditation on food and terrorism and cycling. “Combining surrealism, tragedy and humor, The Cyclist is a journey into the unsettling workings of the terrorist mind. Even as the narrator ponders his mission, only his musings about food and love reveal clues to his nationality and his agenda. But can such a zestful connaisseur also be a true agent of political violence?" "Seductive, insidious, upsetting and completely satifying...an intoxicating cocktail." —Eric Bogosian "The Cyclist is at once terrifying and hilarious. It is not a defense of terrorism but instead the tale of an endearing and conflicted character that will undoubtedly remain in the mind of the reader long after finishing the novel." —Sarah Rachel Egelman |
 I,
the Divine, by Rabih AlameddineI, the Divine. "As
a Lebanese woman growing up in Beirut and now living in America, Sarah
searches for a way to tell her story. She begins a memoir, a novel
- and abandons every attempt at the first chapter. As first chapter
follows first chapter, I, the Divine builds up a rich portrait,
not only of Sarah but of her extraordinary extended hybrid family
formed by divorce and remarriage, of Beirut at wartime, of her mother's
suicide, her sister's madness, her ex-husbands, her son. I, the Divine works wonderfully, building up layers of Sarah's story in a manner which is subtle, fresh, intriguing and accessible. We are left with a portrait of a dignified, passionate and determined woman who is trying to carve a fragile peace for herself despite growing up amidst political turmoil and deadly struggle. RABIH ALAMEDDINE was born in Beirut and now lives in San Francisco. His first book, Koolaids, was published to widespread critical acclaim. He is also a world-famous painter and artist and has exhibited in London, New York and Paris amongst other major cities." —Edwina Johnson |
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Hanan al-Shaykh is among the foremost writers of the Arab world. She was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1945. She worked from 1966 to 1975 as a journalist in Beirut before turning to writing fiction. Her novels, which are written in Arabic, include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh, Beirut Blues, and Only in London, all of which are available in English translation. Her excellent story collection, I Sweep the Sun Off Rooftops, is highly recommended. She lives in London. Read more about her. |
Only In
London by Hanan Al-ShaykhImagine
a bridge linking the many cultures of the Levant—from Morocco in
the west to Afghanistan to the east. Imagine an oasis of harmonious coexistence,
right here in Los Angeles, where artists illumine our minds and entertain
at the same time—you have imagined Levantine Cultural Center.
We
strive, indeed, to be an oasis of cultural exploration, peace, exchange
and understanding. Devoted to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Levantine
Cultural Center, headquartered in Los Angeles, serves as a crossroads
between contemporary arts and traditional cultures.
We present or cosponsor programs that celebrate the music, dance, poetry,
literature, film and video, painting, sculpture, new media, new ideas,
and the oral histories of this fascinating, diverse region of the world.
From the the cultures of the Levant to the Arab spirit of Al-Andalus,
from Greece and Turkey to North Africa, from the cultures of West Asia,
including Iran and Pakistan to the Gulf States, the Center expressly includes
and honors the many cultures of this vast region.
Perhaps what makes Levantine Cultural Center most unique is that we celebrate
both majority and minority cultures, rather than taking a nationalistic
approach, so you will find here that most everyone is represented, including
Armenian, Bedouin, Kabyl, Kurdish and Sephardi/Mizrahi cultures. Our programs
are welcoming and inclusive; as a result, audiences at our events are
extremely diverse.
Bilad al-sham is one definition of "Levantine" as it referred to Syria in days gone by when it was interconnected with Lebanon and Palestine; another is El Helaal el khaseeb—the Fertile Crescent. The Levant we embrace embodies as much the imaginary worlds of Naghib Mahfouzand Edmond Jabès as it does the spirit of poets Rumi, Adonis and Darwish. Into the mix come the dancers and musicians who cross-pollinate with each other, whether they are of one religion or another, one nationality or another—regardless of the politics of their respective governments.
Levantine
Cultural Center, founded in 2001 as a not-for-profit arts organization,
seeks to create or support innovative programs focusing on the expression
of artists and writers, performers and philosophers, dreamers and visionaries.
Many Levantine cultures are under-represented in American life, and often
misunderstood. We are organizing to support gallery exhibits, lectures,
performance art, live concerts, public dialogue, festivals, book groups,
conferences, workshops, film and video screenings, oral history and radio
recordings, new media productions and much more. You can help by becoming
a sponsor.
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For
details on past, present and future programs, please visit our calendar.
Read a Los Angeles Times
feature about us.
Levantine
Cultural Center welcomes you to join us in exploration, debate and friendship!
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 Save
the date, Jan. 27, 2007, for a special 10th edition benefit performance
of The Sultans of Satire: Middle East Comic Relief, with Ahmed Ahmed,
Mike Batayeh, Elham Jazab, Gulden, Maz Jobrani, Peter Shahriari, Aron
Kader, Max Amini, Noel Elgrably and a very special surprise guest.
Hosted by Fariborz. |
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Learn
more about a poetry event Levantine Cultural Center hosted with poets
Nathalie Handal, Dima Hilal, Elmaz Abinader and Deema Shehabi. See
the Arab poets page.