Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: An Evening of Poetry

Presented By

FOR-SITE Foundation

Mar 5th @ 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Join FOR-SITE Foundation during the final week of the “Sanctuary” exhibit for a political literary event in the Chapel in Upper Fort Mason at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Held simultaneously with 20 other individuals and organizations throughout the world, “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” remembers the March 5, 2007 bombing and destruction of an ancient Iraqi bookseller’s street in Baghdad.

“Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” honors the 30 people killed and 100 people injured with performances, poetry, and spoken word. The shattering of such a revered cultural district and subsequent efforts to stand in solidarity with the Iraqi community resonates with the themes embodied in the “Sanctuary” exhibit.

The evening’s program features local poet Beau Beausoleil, who founded the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project in 2007. He is joined by award-winning Canadian poet Richard Harrison, who wrote “At Home On Al-Mutanabbi Street” for the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here anthology published in 2012. Poet, editor, Iranian studies professor, and Al-Mutanabbi project member Persis Karim also participates in the evening’s program. Karim is a professor of Comparative and World Literature and Middle East and Islamic Studies at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and is the inaugural chair of the SFSU Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies created in 2017.

Free Admission


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