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AIAW Latest Events - 2010
Reza Aslan - 'Bridging the Middle East and America Through Culture'
In conversation with Moderator Laura Sydell - Arts Correspondent, National Public Radio and panel members:
Reza Aslan, author of No God But God, How to Win a Cosmic War, and Tablet and Pen; Contributing Editor, The Daily Beast.
Wajahat Ali, playwright, The Domestic Crusaders journalist; attorney; creator of Goatmilk: An Intellectual Playground Blog.
Zoe Ferraris, author of Finding Nouf and City of Veils.
Najva Sol, AIAW member, photographer, poet, co-founder of the Lowbrow Society for the Arts
American headlines about the Middle East often focus on terrorism, suicide bombings and escalating tensions. The mainstream media can create a massive American cultural blindspot around the literature, history and stories of the Middle East.
A political commentator, New York Times best-selling author and an analyst on CBS News, Aslan is considered by some to be an American window to Islam. He is now looking to bridge the gap and share the best of the Middle East's literary leaders. Join the acclaimed author and contributing editor to The Daily Beast as he brings you the cultural luminaries from Iran, Pakistan, Morocco and Turkey and beyond.
Date: Monday, November 29, 2010
Time: 6:00PM Check In, 6:30PM Program, 7:30PM Book Signing
Location: The Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor
Contact Info: tickets.commonwealthclub.org
Cost: MEMBERS FREE, $20 non-members, $7 students (with valid ID).
Premium (includes premium seating and copy of Tablet and Pen) $30 members, $45 non-members
Presented in association with the Middle East Member-Led Forum
'The Bride of Acacias' Sept 27, 2010'
Left: Author and playwright Ezzat Goushegir
Ezzat Goushegir will have a reading performance of her play "The Bride of Acacias" at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, on Monday September 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM.
'The Bride of Acacias'
A one woman show based on life of the prominent Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, whose poetry made a significant impact on men and women in Iran.
Set in Iran and Germany in 1950s and 1960s, the play opens up with a rebellious act in a secluded room, while simultaneously an American Coup takes place outside the room.
Forugh, in search of the nature of love and freedom, begins a long journey through impossibilities. By taking a perilous path, she defines a new perception of humane politics and morality, explores her own model of womanhood, and the manifestation of women's liberation.
Ezzat: "I also had a reading of my play 'The Doll behind the Curtain', a modern adaptation of Sadegh Hedayat's short story of the same title in Vancouver, Canada in September 3, 2010. This play emphasizes a young man's fascination for a silent statue behind a boutique's window in Paris. Infatuated by her mysterious beauty, he pays all his saving to own this soulless mannequin. The play explores the complexity of love, sexuality and intimacy from the perspective of a man, torn in between tradition and modernity"See "The Bride of Acacias" at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, on Monday September 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Place: Women and Gender Studies, Minor Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va 22903
Read more about Ezzat Goushegir
'The Bride of Acacias' Sept 27, 2010'
Left: Author and playwright Ezzat Goushegir
Ezzat Goushegir will have a reading performance of her play "The Bride of Acacias" at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, on Monday September 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM.
'The Bride of Acacias'
A one woman show based on life of the prominent Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, whose poetry made a significant impact on men and women in Iran.
Set in Iran and Germany in 1950s and 1960s, the play opens up with a rebellious act in a secluded room, while simultaneously an American Coup takes place outside the room.
Forugh, in search of the nature of love and freedom, begins a long journey through impossibilities. By taking a perilous path, she defines a new perception of humane politics and morality, explores her own model of womanhood, and the manifestation of women's liberation.
Ezzat: "I also had a reading of my play 'The Doll behind the Curtain', a modern adaptation of Sadegh Hedayat's short story of the same title in Vancouver, Canada in September 3, 2010. This play emphasizes a young man's fascination for a silent statue behind a boutique's window in Paris. Infatuated by her mysterious beauty, he pays all his saving to own this soulless mannequin. The play explores the complexity of love, sexuality and intimacy from the perspective of a man, torn in between tradition and modernity"See "The Bride of Acacias" at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, on Monday September 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Place: Women and Gender Studies, Minor Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va 22903
Read more about Ezzat Goushegir
Ezzat Goushegir (left) will present five plays in two theatre conferences and Film Society in Los Angeles from August 2nd to August 8th, 2010. Hope to see you there!
"Another Phaedra in the Desert"
This play is a new take on the epic story of Soodabeh and Siavash by Ferdowsi and a new perspective on the powerful, yet complicated character Sudabeh who challenges her husband, the king, and her son in law, the prince, in order to examine power manifestation as she questions women's captivity, gender inequality and injustice.
Date: Monday, August 2nd
Time: 11am
Place: Little Theatre, UCLA
Info: Women and Theatre Program - Athe Conferences & News
"My Name is Inanna"
Performed by the playwright at ATHE conference with five other playwrights in "Rage, Speak, Act against the Machine: A Survival Quilt – Weaving through Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Class, Sexuality." Participants are: Domnica Radulescu, Elizabeth Szekeresh, Ezzat Goushegir, Sara Guerrero, Joan Lipkin, Marilyn McLaughlin. "My Name is Inanna" is about a modern Iranian woman in the U.S. who is in search of identity, justice and freedom.
Date: Friday, August 6th
Time: 9.45am
Place: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Westwood Room, Plaza Level
Info: Athe - Conference Program (PDF) - Athe.org
Please note: The following three plays will be performed sequentially at 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 8pm, at the same venue.
"The Bride of Acacias"
A one woman show based on life of the prominent Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, whose poetry made a significant impact on men and women in Iran.
Date: Sunday, August 8th
Time: 6.30pm
Place: Film Society - Felicia Mahood Auditorium 11338 Santa Monica Blvd.
LOS ANGELES , CA 90025
"THE DOLL BEHIND THE CURTAIN"
Based on an adaptation of Sadegh Hedayat's short story of the same title. The play explores the complexity of love, sexuality and intimacy from the perspective of a man, torn in between tradition and modernity. Stage Reading by: Mahmoud Behrouzian and Roya Aryanpad.
Date: Sunday, August 8th
Time: 7.30pm
Place: Film Society - Felicia Mahood Auditorium 11338 Santa Monica Blvd.
LOS ANGELES , CA 90025
Excerpt from: "Two Iranian Children"
A play about two Iranian twin sisters reuniting after twenty two years of separation caused by Islamic revolution, during which their lives were turned in completely opposite directions. Stage Reading by: Ziba Shirazi, Roya Aryanpad and Danielle Jacobs.
Date: Sunday, August 8th
Time: 8.00pm
Place: Film Society - Felicia Mahood Auditorium 11338 Santa Monica Blvd.
LOS ANGELES , CA 90025
AIAW Event: Reading - April 22, 2010
Identities and Influence: A Panel of Emerging Asian American Women Writers. At the University of San Francisco.
Anita Amirrezvani
Keep this date free and join us for a panel discussion about emerging Asian American women writers. On the panel are Anita Amirrezvani (left), Kathryn Ma, Barbara Jane Reyes and Shawna Yang Ryan. Moderated by Marianne Villanueva.
Two novelists, a short story writer and a poet discuss what influences and inspires their writing and how they negotiate their identity as writers. In her novel The Blood of Flowers, Anita Amirrezvani skillfully interweaves culture, romance and art. Kathryn Ma’s story collection All That Work and Still No Boys won the Iowa Short Fiction Award. For Poeta en San Francisco, Barbara Jane Reyes received the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets. Shawna Yang Ryan’s first novel, Water Ghosts, is a haunted portrait of a Sacramento River town. Marianne Villanueva, whose most recent story collection is Mayor of the Roses, is also the co-editor of Going Home to A Landscape: Writings by Filipinas.
Presented by:
:: University of San Francisco MFA in Writing Program
:: Asian-American Studies Program
::
Co-sponsored by the Center for the Pacific Rim and Asia Society, Northern California
Details:
Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Time: 7:30 PM- 9 PM
Where: Xavier Room in Fromm Hall (corner of Parker and Golden Gate), USF campus. MAP
AIAW Event: Reading Update - April 22, 2010
Recent NY Nowruz event - A New Day: Readings by Afghan and Iranian American Writers - reviewed by Dena Afrasiabi.
Over eighty attendees braved the rain and squeezed into tight quarters for A New Day: Readings by Afghan and Iranian American Writers on Friday, March 12th at the Asian American Writers Workshop. The reading was held in honor of Nowruz and was co-hosted by Zohra Saed, co-director of the Association of Afghan American Writers and Manijeh Nasrabadi, co-director of the Association of Iranian American Writers.
Ken Chen, director of the Asian American Writers Workshop opened the reading by welcoming attendees and discussing future events. Ken said his goal as director has been to be as ambitious and inclusive as possible when defining the terms Asian and American.
Nasrabadi, who introduced the first reader, spoke about the importance of collapsing the borders between Iranian and Afghan Americans. She said collaboration between the two organizations has long been in the works, in large part because of all the new writing that has recently come out of both communities.
Saed explained the haft-seen for those who were not familiar with Nowruz traditions and spoke about the political implications of celebrating Nowruz and recognizing the broad range of Central and South Asian cultures that share the same traditions.
Five writers read in total. Aphrodite Desiree Navab, who kicked off the reading with an excerpt from her novel, Call Her Anar. Naheed Elyasi read from her story Living on Prayer which is included in the forthcoming Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature co-edited by Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet read from her forthcoming novel Martyrdom Street, Sahar Muradi read several short memoir pieces and Dalia Sofer read from her novel Septembers of Shiraz.
The evening was also a fundraiser for the Committee to Protect Journalists and $160 was collected to support work in Iran and Afghanistan. A Q&A session followed the reading, during which the writers discussed some of the challenges of writing in diaspora and negotiating issues of gender and culture in their work. The large turnout at the reading is indicative of the wealth of public support and enthusiasm for the great fiction and nonfiction coming out of these two communities.
AIAW Event: Reading - Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Author Elizabeth Eslami Reads from her novel "BONE WORSHIP" - at Alexander Book Company, SF - 12.30pm to 1.30pm
Author Elizabeth Eslami will read from her new novel, Bone Worship, just published in paperback by Pegasus Books.
A stunning debut from this Iranian American author, Bone Worship dares to explore the perilous intersection of familial and cultural mysteries, balancing the pull of tradition, the promise of the future, and all the possibilities in between.
In this novel about a young woman striving to understand her father and her own mysterious heritage, Eslami tackles what it means to be a mixed race woman bearing the weight of romantic and familial expectations, from the rural American South to metropolitan Iran. American born Jasmine Fahroodhi struggles to connect with her Iranian father while also trying to find herself, all with the possibility of an arranged marriage looming in the background.
Bone Worship is a bracing take on a cultural coming-of-age story, and Eslami’s voice, at once witty and poignant, is unforgettable.
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Time: 12:30pm - 1:30 pm Where: Alexander Book Company, 50 Second St, San Francisco, CA - MAP More info at: www.alexanderbook.indiebound.com
