PalFest 2012: Coming Soon
The 2012 Palestine Festival of Literature opens in just two short weeks. Organizers have set themselves an even greater-than-usual challenge this year in that the fest is set to be hosted in Gaza.
The writers and performers who are set to travel from Egypt into Gaza for the festival are: Ghada Abd el-Aal, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Suad Amiry, Selma Dabbagh, Najwan Darwish, Amr Ezzat, Amin Haddad, Tariq Hamdan, Nathalie Handal, Manal Hassan, Khaled Khamissi, Jamal Mahjoub, Sahar el-Mogy, Khaled Najar, Youssef Rakha, Ahdaf Soueif, Hyam Yared, Nariman Youssef & the bands Eskenderella, Jafra and al Salam.
Organizers did post the beginnings of a schedule, and promise that the new bilingual site will be up for testing on Wednesday:
GAZA
May 6th: Opening Night
4pm, Golden Media Centre (opposite al Azhar University)
[Full line up to be announced]
May 8th: Concert
5pm, Rashad al Shawa
Concert by Jafra, Eskenderella and more.
May 9th: Closing Night
5pm, Dar al Basha (opposite Qasr al Basha)
[Full line up to be announced]
RAMALLAH
May 5th, 7.30pm
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre
Public reading with Maya Abu Hayat, Rachel Holmes, Bee Rowlatt, Abed Al-Rahim Al-Shaikh.
With a musical performance by Imad Sayrafi.
CAIRO
May 11th, 8pm
Rawabet Theatre, Downtown
The PalFest group report back to Cairo, tell the audience about their experiences and discuss ways we can all work together in the future.
More on PalFest and Palestinian lit:
World Literature Today: No Ordinary Place: Writers and Writing in Occupied Palestine (by Rima Najjar Merriman)
Shahadat: Pieces by 6 Contemporary Gazan Writers (in English) Fifty-five pages of new literature!
Nora Lester Murad: Trying to Reach Palfest Last Year