TMR Book Club on Stories from the Center of the World readings & conversation
September 29 @ 19:00 - 20:00
Free
The Markaz Book Club invites you to readings and conversation about Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction, edited by Jordan Elgrably and published in May by City Lights in San Francisco. Participating are editors Jordan Elgrably and Malu Halasa, along with writers Leila Aboulela, Farah Ahamed and Tariq Mehmood, who will read from their short stories, and discuss the state of short fiction out of the region TMR calls “the center of the world,” from Pakistan in the east to Morocco in the west.
Join us for this roundtable discussion on Sunday, September 29th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET on Zoom.
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About the speakers:
Leila Aboulela is author of the story “Raise Your Head High.”Her most recent novel is River Spirit, published by Saqi Books. Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home, won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila was born in Cairo, grew up in Khartoum and moved in her mid-twenties to Scotland where she now lives.
Farah Ahamed wrote the story “Anarkali, or Six Early Deaths in Lahore.” Her writing has been published in Ploughshares, White Review, LA Review of Books, Massachusetts Review, World Literature Today and The Markaz Review, among others. She lives in London.
Jordan Elgrably is the founder of The Markaz Review, author of the story “The Afghan and the Persian,” and editor of the anthology Stories from the Center of the World published by City Lights.
Malu Halasa is literary editor at The Markaz review and the author of the short story “A Dog in the Woods” in the same anthology.
Tariq Mehmood is the writer of the story “The Settlement,” as well as a novelist and filmmaker. Among his works are the novel Hand On The Sun, on the experience of racism by young migrants to the UK, and While There Is Light, a novel backdropped by the case of the BRADFORD 12. He lives and teaches in Beirut.
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This program is online and free to the public. Don’t miss what promises to be a rich conversation about short stories and TMR’s first fiction anthology. This roundtable is supported by grants from Hawthornden and Open Society Foundations.