Ghassan Zaqtan, Palestinian poet, with Fady Joudah, poet and translator

The New York State Writers Institute presents a reading by Ghassan Zaqtan, major Palestinian poet, who is also a novelist, journalist, screenwriter and a leading representative of the avant-garde in Arabic literature. His most recent collection-the first to appear in English-is Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me (2012), which was translated by Fady Joudah, a Palestinian-American poet and winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition for his own collection, The Earth in the Attic (2008). A past participant in numerous panels and colloquia with leading Israeli writers on peaceful coexistence and mutual concerns, Zaqtan is also the co-founder and director of the House of Poetry in Ramallah and is currently the Director General of the Literature and Publishing Department of the Palestinian Ministry of Culture. * There will be a free Q&A/seminar with the authors at 4:15pm, also in the Standish Room. Cosponsored by International Poets in Conversation, part of the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute's consortium tour.