February's selection for the Levantine Bookgroup is an excellent memoir revealing the life story of Taha Muhammad Ali, poet and author of So What: New & Selected Poems, 1971-2005, translated by Peter Cole. The Levantine BookGroup meets every last Wednesday of each month, and explores literature and non-fiction by writers from the Middle East/North Africa or about the region or its diaspora. The group is open to everyone. 

"Adina Hoffman's biography of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali...is a rich tapestry of the personal, the literary and the political, skilfully woven by a sympathetic writer." —Ian Black, the Guardian

"Adina Hoffman has been relentless in her efforts to research the life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, and she possesses a natural gift for storytelling. Her book describes the creation of a literary culture under the harshest circumstances. It is about the triumph of art and decency and memory against tremendous odds, and it breaks open a world about which I knew almost nothing. It's a terrific book, and readers will be drawn to its account of the triumph of the human spirit." —Karl Pohrt, Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, MI

Taha Muhammad Ai was little known until recently—certainly compared to giants such as Mahmoud Darwish or the novelist Emile Habiby. But his life, spanning his people's tragedy (and century, as in the book's subtitle), is captured in this beautiful memoir and brings him vividly to life, even as it illuminates the birth of Israel and its effect on the native Arab population. Read more about Taha Muhammad Aii.

Join us for a special interactive installation by digital artist VJ Um Amel followed by an evening of world music synchronized to a remix of Egyptian cinema and media emerging from across the Middle East. VJ Um Amel is an Egyptian-American digital artist, USC Ph.D. candidate, and the creator of R-Shief.org. R-Shief is an Arab media system that has one of the most rare archives of social media content from Arab revolutions. This event provides the audience with an interactive installation followed by an for an evening of world music synchronized to a remix of Egyptian cinema and media emerging from the revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawn from the databases of the R-Shief initiative, this installation pays tribute to the vision of the people. http://vjumamel.com. VJ Um Amel will be joined by writer/editor/researcher Maytha Alhassen with readings from the new anthology Demanding Dignity, Young Voices from the Arab Revolutions.

Readers interested in exploring the Middle East, cultural identity, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, satire, Arab social life and the mind of Sayed Kashua will benefit from picking up his latest novel, Second Person Singular (copies discounted by 10% or 20% for members, available at the Levantine bookstore, call 323.413.2001). Acclaimed novelist Sayed Kashua, the creator of the groundbreaking Israeli sitcom, "Arab Labor," has been widely praised for his literary eye and deadpan wit. His new novel is considered internationally to be his most accomplished and entertaining work yet.

Friday, Jan. 18, 7 pm, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, in partnership with the Levantine Cultural Center, presents renowned Lebanese broadcaster and writer Karen Boustany, who will talk about political and cultural life in Beirut, the crisis in neighboring Syria, and the future of the Middle East. Ms Boustany comes at a time when Lebanon once again finds itself in the midst of a crisis that is not of its own making—this time the brutal struggle for power in Syria that for many years orchestrated similar power struggles inside Lebanon itself. This program will be primarily in English, with some French and Arabic.