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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260412T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260412T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T092832
CREATED:20260311T115843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260319T141852Z
UID:46610-1776016800-1776020400@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Le Book Club discute “Le Bastion des larmes" d’Abdellah Taïa
DESCRIPTION:Inscris-toi gratuitement pour participer ! \nNotre lecture du mois de mars sera Le Bastion des larmes d’Abdellah Taïa. Nous en discuterons en ligne le dimanche 12 avril à 18h CET / 12pm EST. \nÀ la mort de sa mère\, Youssef\, un professeur marocain exilé en France depuis un quart de siècle\, revient à Salé\, sa ville natale\, à la demande de ses sœurs\, pour liquider l’héritage familial. En lui\, c’est tout un passé qui ressurgit\, où se mêlent inextricablement souffrances et bonheur de vivre. \nÀ travers lui\, les voix du passé résonnent et l’interpellent\, dont celle de Najib\, son ami et amant de jeunesse au destin tragique\, happé par le trafic de drogue et la corruption d’un colonel de l’armée du roi Hassan II. À mesure que Youssef s’enfonce dans les ruelles de la ville actuelle\, un monde perdu reprend forme\, guetté par la misère et la violence\, où la différence\, sexuelle\, sociale\, se paie au prix fort. Frontière ultime de ce roman splendide\, le Bastion des Larmes\, nom donné aux remparts de la vieille ville\, à l’ombre desquels Youssef a jadis fait une promesse à Najib. ” Notre passé… notre grande fiction “\, médite Youssef\, tandis qu’il s’apprête à entrer pleinement dans son héritage\, celui d’une enfance terrible\, d’un amour absolu\, aussi\, pour ses sœurs magnifiques et sa mère disparue. \nÀ propos de l’auteur : Abdellah Taïa est né à Rabat (Maroc) en 1973. Il a publié aux Éditions du Seuil plusieurs romans\, traduits dans de nombreuses langues\, notamment Une mélancolie arabe\, Le Jour du roi (Prix de Flore 2010) et Vivre à ta lumière. Le Bastion des Larmes est son premier livre aux Éditions Julliard. \nInscris-toi gratuitement pour participer !
URL:https://themarkaz.org/event/le-book-club-discute-le-bastion-des-larmes-dabdellah-taia/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260416T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260416T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T092832
CREATED:20260407T131648Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260407T135448Z
UID:47089-1776366000-1776369600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:A 'Mother Tongue' Roundtable with TMR Editors
DESCRIPTION:Sign up to attend the event \nJoin TMR editors Lina Mounzer\, Lara Vergnaud\, Abdelrahman Elgendy\, and Saleem Haddad on Thursday\, April 16th 1pm EDT/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET for a thought‑provoking roundtable on Mother Tongue—exploring the power of language\, identity\, and the stories that shape who we are. \nThis online event is free but advance registration is required. \nSign up to attend the event
URL:https://themarkaz.org/event/a-mother-tongue-roundtable-with-tmr-editors/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260426T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260426T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T092832
CREATED:20260331T113740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T113740Z
UID:46976-1777230000-1777233600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses "The Hidden Light of Objects"
DESCRIPTION:We will meet to discuss “The Hidden Light of Objects” by Mai Al-Nakib online on Sunday\, April 26 at 1 pm EDT/19:00 CET. The author will also be in attendance. \nSign up to join the discussion \nA young girl\, renamed Amerika in honour of the US role in the liberation of Kuwait\, finds her name has become a barometer of her country’s growing hostility towards the West. A self-conscious Palestinian teenager is drawn into a botched suicide bombing by two belligerent classmates. A middle-aged man dying from cancer looks back on his extramarital affairs and the abiding forgiveness of his wife. A Kuwaiti woman returns to her family after being held captive in Iraq for a decade. The headlines tell of war\, unrest and religious clashes. But if you look beyond them you will see life in the Middle East as it is really lived – adolescent love\, the fragility of marriage\, pain of the most quotidian kind. Mai Al-Nakib’s luminous stories unveil the lives of ordinary people – and the power of objects to hold extraordinary memories. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mai Al-Nakib was born in Kuwait and spent the first six years of her life in London; Edinburgh; and St. Louis\, Missouri. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Brown University and was an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Kuwait University for twenty years. Her short-story collection\, The Hidden Light of Objects\, won the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award in 2014. Her work has appeared in various publications\, including Ninth Letter\, The First Line\, World Literature Today\, Rowayat\, and The Markaz Review. She lives in Kuwait. \nSign up to join the discussion
URL:https://themarkaz.org/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-the-hidden-light-of-objects/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260531T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260531T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T092832
CREATED:20260403T091049Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T092743Z
UID:47038-1780254000-1780257600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses "The Man of Middling Height" by Fadi Zaghmout
DESCRIPTION:We will meet to discuss The Man of Middling Height by Fadi Zaghmout\, translated by Wasan Abdelhaq on Sunday\, May 31 at 1 pm EDT/19:00 CET. The author will also be in attendance.  \nSign up to join our discussion \nWhat if our society’s deepest prejudices weren’t about race\, gender\, or sexuality—but height? In his groundbreaking allegorical novel\, acclaimed Jordanian author and activist Fadi Zaghmout imagines just such a world\, crafting a powerful meditation on discrimination and desire that speaks directly to our contemporary debates about identity and inclusion. \nThe Man of Middling Height follows a short dressmaker whose life is upended when she meets Tallan\, a man whose middle height places him outside the rigid tall/short binary that governs their society. As their forbidden romance blossoms\, they must navigate a world where height determines everything from social status to romantic possibilities. Through their story and those of surrounding characters—including a short person in a polyamorous relationship with two tall partners\, and a tall activist who scandalously loves another tall person—Zaghmout deftly reframes contemporary discussions about gender identity and sexuality through the lens of height discrimination. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: \nFadi Zaghmout is a Jordanian author and sexual freedoms and body rights advocate. He has published five novels\, including The Bride of Amman\, Heaven on Earth\, Laila\, and Hope on Earth. \nSign up to join our discussion
URL:https://themarkaz.org/event/the-man-of-middling-height-by-fadi-zaghmout-discussion/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260628T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260628T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T092832
CREATED:20260403T091753Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260403T092936Z
UID:47042-1782673200-1782676800@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses "Gates of Paradise" by Taleb Alrefai
DESCRIPTION:We will meet to discuss Gates of Paradise by Taleb Alrefai\, translated by Kay Heikkinen on Sunday\, June 28 at 1 pm EDT/19:00 CET. The translator will also be in attendance.  \nSign up to join the discussion \nA fast-paced\, suspenseful novel that questions desire\, painful family dynamics\, and the preoccupations with Jihadism. \nYaqoub\, a Kuwaiti man in his sixties\, devotes all his time to managing his many successful businesses. His wife\, frustrated by the deteriorating situation of their marriage\, fills the void in her existence with unbridled consumption. But the luxury in which their family bathes cannot hide the echoes of a terrible absence\, that of Ahmad\, the youngest son\, who has turned his back on his family to join a jihadist organization in Syria. When Yaqoub discovers an attraction—as irremediable as it is unexpected—for one of his employees\, a young woman of Iranian origin\, he almost loses his footing. Caught between worry for the fate of his son and the exaltation that this budding relationship gives him\, he suddenly learns that Ahmad is being held hostage by a rival terrorist group who is demanding a colossal ransom. \nThis captivating and suspenseful novel—a true immersion in the daily life of an ultra-rich Kuwaiti family—questions desire\, painful family dynamics\, and the preoccupations with jihadism. Through the doubts of this patriarchal figure brought to review his life and his choices through the prism of unforeseen upheavals\, it is the picture of a very current society that the author paints\, in which generations and visions of the world are opposed. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: \nTaleb Alrefai was born in Kuwait in 1958. He is the award-winning author of a dozen novels and several collections of short stories. He was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) in France in 2023. \nSign up to join the discussion
URL:https://themarkaz.org/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-gates-of-paradise-by-taleb-alrefai/
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