Writing While Arab

“Writing While Arab: Politics, Hyphens and Homelands” is the theme for the second national conference of RAWI, the Radius of Arab American Writers.

Thursday, May 17 through Saturday, May 19, 2007
Arab American National Museum
13624 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, Michigan.

The conference comprises a series of panel discussions, films, readings and other live performances, as well as an awards ceremony. Among the panelists and moderators is Dr. Steven Salaita, RAWI's executive director and author of Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where It Comes From and What It Means for Politics Today. The conference will provide a venue for 150 or so writers and scholars to present our writings and ideas to one another and to the Detroit and Arab communities. This year's conference theme, "Writing While Arab: Politics, Hyphens, and Homelands," seeks to address the multiple challenges Arab American writers face in an intensified post-9/11 climate.

In 21 readings and workshops open to all registered attendees ($35 for RAWI membership and "$85 for the conference, including meals), the writers will address such topics as: How is Arab American writing affected by the targeting of Arabs and Muslims as the "national enemy" inside and outside of the U.S. and by the wars waged in our home-lands? How do we envision a future for our literature between the desire for location within American culture and our trans-cultural experiences? How do we promote and teach our literature? How to promote our unconventional literature within the conventions of the market place?

To register, visit the RAWI Web site