2014 Meetings: “Writers Between Two Cultures”

The International Writers’ House in Beirut aims at promoting a dialogue and debate among authors related to literatures formed through the interaction of cultures, the mobility of people and the exchange of works. Therefore, for its first meetings the organization will emphasize the theme pertaining to writers of immigration - all forms of migration that have fostered the exchange and interaction among people of our times. Held in Beirut, the meetings will reflect the city, itself a port from which many authors have immigrated to other places in the world, and still witnesses the trauma of immigration, but also benefits from the linguistic and cultural contribution of its diaspora. It would be fitting that for these few days, Beirut will host a meeting where all forms of displacement and migration are debated and great authors coming from different places and literary background will meet, discuss, and debate in front of the Lebanese public. These meetings will be titled “Writers Between Two Cultures”.

The Meetings

The meetings titled “Writers Between Two Cultures” will take place in May 2014. They will comprise a series of eight to ten sessions each dedicated to one or two writers at most, and moderated by local and international professors or literary journalists, to whom partnering bookstores will have sent the authors’ books in advance. Moderators will put questions forth on the author’s works, on their rapport with emigration and language, and on their vision of the world and of literature in general. The audience will be invited to comment. Each session will last 60 to 90 minutes Simultaneous translation into three languages (Arabic, English, French) will be available where needed. During the meetings, local artists will read extracts from one of the writer’s texts or short videos will be screened will be organized.