Nomad Crossroads: Algerian Poetry Now

Sponsored by the Maison Francaise

Wednesday, December 2

Time: 6:00-8:00pm

Location: East Gallery, Buell Hall, Columbia University, Main Campus Entrance at Broadway and 116th Street

A poetry reading and discussion with Samira Negrouche, Pierre Joris and Omar Berrada

Standing at the crossroads of several languages and literary traditions, contemporary North African poetry is little known in the U.S. despite its vitality, as was illustrated by the recently published University of California Book of North African Literature (ed. Pierre Joris and Habib Tengour). This event will provide a taste of this rich poetic tradition in the company of one of its most brilliant practitioners. Visiting from Algiers, Samira Negrouche will read a selection of her poems in French, with English translations read by Anna Moschovakis. The readings will be followed by a conversation with Pierre Joris and Omar Berrada, on her work and on the contemporary poetic landscape in Algeria and the Maghreb.

Samira Negrouche is an Algerian poet who writes in French. Trained as a doctor, she lives in Algiers where she is now devoting herself exclusively to writing. Anna Moschovakis is a writer, translator, and educator who also edits books with Ugly Duckling Press. Pierre Joris' recent publications include Barzakh: Poems 2000-2012 (Black Widow Press) & Breathturn into Timestead: The Collected Later Poetry of Paul Celan (FSG). Omar Berrada is a writer and translator, and the director of Dar al-Ma'mûn, a library and artists' residency in Marrakech. 

Event provided with the support of the arts organization Tamaas.