The World Republic of Literature

Posted in Symposia

The 2006 Lannan Symposium brought together an outstanding group of world-renowned and emergent writers from across the globe to discuss the changing function of the public writer in the early 21st century. The World Republic of Literature explored the transmission of literature beyond the bounds of the nation, raising important questions about the changing functions of the artist, the writer and the intellectual in the early 21st century.

Additional Sponsors: Department of English, the International Writers’ Workshop, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the College Dean, the Department of Arabic Language, Literature, and Linguistics, the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Program in African-American Studies, the Program on Justice and Peace, the Department of German, the Women’s Studies Program and the Humanities & Human Rights Initiative.

Participants

Schedule of Events

Monday, April 10

The World Republic of Literature and the Role of the Writer in the 21st Century: A Seminar
4:00 – 6:00 PM | ICC 241
Panelists: University Professor Emeritus Norman Birnbaum, Professor Ahmad Dallal, Professor Paul Smith and Professor Andrew Rubin (moderator)

Tuesday, April 11

Symposium I: Literature and the Intellectual
9:45 AM – 12:00 PM | Gonda Theatre
Panelists: Chris Abani, Ammiel Alcalay, Elias Khoury and Rob Nixon

Symposium II: Poetics of Memory and Silence
1:00 – 3:00 PM | Gonda Theatre
Panelists: Etel Adnan, Antje Rávic Strubel, Zaia Alexander, Semezdin Mehmedinovic and Suhail Shadoud

Readings by Suhail Shadoud, Antje Rávic Strubel, Zaia Alexander and Shahrnush Parsipur
3:00 – 5:00 PM | Gonda Theatre

Readings by Chris Abani and Elias Khouri
6:30 – 7:45 PM | Gonda Theatre

Poetics for the Future: A Reading by Adonis
8:00 – 9:30 PM | Gonda Theatre
To be performed in Arabic and English. Translations read by Mark McMorris.

Wednesday, April 12

Symposium III: Translating the Past
10:00 – 12:00 PM | ICC 241
Panelists: José Manuel Prieto, Jacqueline Loss, Shahrnush Parsipur and Nathalie Handal

Readings by Nathalie Handal, José Manuel Prieto and Rob Nixon
1:30 – 3:30 PM | ICC 241

A Poetics for the Future: A discussion with Adonis
3:45 – 5:00 PM | ICC 241
Moderated by Suhail Shadoud and translated by Professor Ahmad Dallal.

Readings by Semezdin Mehmedinovic and Ammiel Alcalay
6:30 – 7:50 PM | Gonda Theatre

Reading by Etel Adnan
8:00 – 9:00 PM | Gonda Theatre

Media