On the streets of Iran, Tunisia, Egypt and beyond, poems are being used as rallying cries for revolution while social media have become the vehicles for delivering them. Daniyal Mueenuddin and Reza Aslan give voice to literature mirroring the ills of society and poets transforming into journalists, historians, and cultural critics.
This year’s festival will celebrate the magical literature of the modern Middle East. Against the backdrop of ancient lands where paper was born and poetry has flourished since days of yore, the rich sweep of storytelling continues in today’s novels, memoir, and narrative journalism.
