2011 Between the Lines

2011 saw the most diverse set of BTL participants to date, representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Tunisia. In addition to their creative writing study in both English and Arabic, students took part in a variety of activities ranging from a discussion of the events of the "Arab Spring" to a tour of an authentic Mississippi River tugboat to a children's-bookmaking workshop hosted by youth nonprofit 826 Chicago. For most of them, this was their first visit to the States, and we did our best to make it memorable.









Egyptian poet Yasser Abdel-Latif at the Arabic creative writing workshop. At Shambaugh House, students discuss the events of the “Arab Spring.”
Basketball break. Panel discussion on “Young Writers and Writing” at the Iowa City Book Festival.
Guest lecturer and Palestinian-American author Ibtisam Barakat leads a class. Students discuss forms of Arabic and English poetry.
Learning Arabic. Late afternoon at Oak Street Beach, Chicago.
Students write and design children’s books at 826 Chicago. The BTL class of 2011. Standing, left to right: Ghada Abdel Aal (chaperone, Egypt), Maha Zeidan (student, Israel), Roua Seghaier (student, Tunisia), Maisa Farid (student, Morocco), Yasser Abdel-Latif (faculty, Egypt/Canada), Lana Najjar (student, Israel), Kecia Lynn (IWP staff), Johnny Yaacoub (student, Lebanon), Abed El Yaacoub (student, Lebanon), Hind Rahmoun (student, Algeria), Khaled Khalifa (faculty, Syria), Mohammad AlHemaid (chaperone, Saudi Arabia). Kneeling, left to right: Sally AlHak (student, Egypt), Saria AlMidani (student, Syria), Hadeel AlHaddad (student, Bahrain), Oussama Ghajjou (student, Morocco).

Happening Now

  • In a recent Haaretz piece, Odeh Bisharat describes the efforts of the Arab-Jewish solidarity movement Standing Together to collect food for needy Gazans as well as build a long-term political coalition.

  • Among the upcoming titles at the lively regional CEEOL Press is 1945 and Other Stories., an English translation of Gábor Szántó’s Hungarian original.

  • An excerpt from Lidija Dimkovska’s most recent novel [Personal Identity Number] appears in the July 2024 issue of World Literature Today.

  • The Spring 2024 issue of the Michigan Quarterly Review features an excerpt from Amira-Géhanne Khalfallah’s new novel Onboard the Amsterdam or, the Last Voyage of Ibn Battûta,  surveying the burning topics of migrancy, radicalization, and exile. 
     

  • In an opinion piece for NYTimes, Veronica Raimo plumbs the (shallow) depths of Italian women’s media representation.

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