Author Archive
The Second International Kahlil Gibran Conference: Reading Gibran In an Age of Globalization and Conflict
Today is the opening session of the "The Second International Kahlil Gibran Conference" at the University of Maryland. Organized by The Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace; The Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland; and The Telfair Museum of Art (Savannah, GA), it shall take place from May 3 until May 6 at the The Marriott Inn & Conference Center (3501 University Boulevard, East Hyattsville, MD). In its formal announcement, the conference consciously argues for Gibran's relevance at this moment, stating: As crises proliferate across the globe in this era of accelerated globalization, where are the voices that can bring us the kind of wisdom, awareness, and balance so needed if we are to achieve justice, peace and that “brotherhood of man” envisioned in humanity’s perennial philosophies, East and West? In a world where anger, disintegration, corruption, disorientation and anarchy are the order of the day, Kahlil Gibran stands on his own, as one of those rare writers who actually transcends the barrier between East and West, emphasizing the importance of reconciling reason and passion, of balancing the physical with the spiritual, and of finding practical and moral solutions to the ...
H. Res. 608: Congressional Resolution Honoring Ameen Rihani Introduced!
This Thursday, March 29, Representatives Nick Rahall (D-West Virginia) and Charles Boustany (R-Louisiana) introduced House Resolution 608: A Resolution "Honoring the life and work of Arab-American writer Ameen Rihani and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first Arab-American novel, The Book of Khalid, by Ameen Rihani." The introduction of this resolution is extraordinarily meaningful for admirers of Rihani. Despite his great impact on the American understanding of the Arab world and his efforts to engage the American government in the early 20th century on Arab political issues, Rihani has never been acknowledged by the United States Congress. To recognize the literary value and important themes of The Book of Khalid, especially at this moment in history, represents an extremely significant move and gesture. However, the full passage of this resolution is not guaranteed. The 112th Congress has put up some barriers against the passage of honorary resolutions, and we need to make the case that this resolution -- because of the symbolic importance of recognizing Arab-American achievements, both in the United States and for the Arab world -- deserves special attention. The first thing that I would earnestly ask is that all admirers of Ameen Rihani call their representatives ...
“Shakespeare Iraq” — A Kickstarter Project to Have Iraqi Students Perform at the the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
I noticed a link to this Kickstarter Project from Fadia Faqir on Twitter, and I found it quite inspiring. A group of Iraqi students from the American University of Iraq needs funds to perform in the "Green Show" at the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Ameen Rihani continually said that Shakespeare was his greatest inspiration, and a formative event in his life was when he ran away from home to join the Henry Jewett Traveling Shakespeare company. And he wrote the play, Wajda, a clear attempt to write a Shakespearean style play in an authentic Arab historical setting. The teacher, Peter Friedrich, who has been the Head of Drama at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani since 2008 and received an MFA from the American Conservatory Theater in 1996, seems like an inspiring character. I hope that this Kickstarter effort succeeds, and I encourage admirers of Ameen Rihani to consider donating. As an American citizen, Rihani played such an interesting role in Iraqi history, and I think that a cultural project like this is so closely aligned with his early advocacy for cultural contact between the United States, Iraq, and the Arab world writ large.
New York Public Library Celebrates 100 Years of the Arab-American Novel
Here is the audio for the event celebrating Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid which took place Tuesday, October 25 at the New York Public Library. And here is their blurb from the event: In partnership with Project Khalid and the CUNY Graduate Center: Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center, The New York Public Library is proud to organize an evening event -- with scholars, the Lebanese Ambassador to the United States, and acclaimed journalist Rami Khouri -- to celebrate the centennial of the first Arab American novel. In 1911, Dodd, Mead, and Co. in New York City published Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid, a story of two boys from Lebanon who immigrate to the Little Syria neighborhood in Lower Manhattan and peddle on the streets. After exposure to the New York artistic and cultural environment of the period, the two return to Lebanon where, inspired by their New York experiences, they transform into political and social revolutionaries and become in conflict with the ruling Ottoman Empire. The work is considered the foundation of Arab American literature and is seen as a crucial influence on Kahlil Gibran’s famous work The Prophet (1923). ...
Save Washington Street Coalition Formed
Through my work on Ameen Rihani and The Book of Khalid, I have learned a great deal about the role of Washington Street, the first Arab-American neighborhood, in American history. And I argue that The Book of Khalid is the greatest cultural product depicting this neighborhood that emerged, and therefore it uniquely serves to tell its story. Yet, the neighborhood, because of the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and the World Trade Center, has been devastated physically unlike any other in New York, and sadly, despite Washington Street overlapping with the 9/11 Memorial and the site of the South Tower of World Trade Center (where it is especially important to emphasize the long and patriotic history of Arabs in the United States), little has been done to preserve or memorialize this neighborhood. There are no plaques or signs, and many important historical buildings have been demolished without a second thought. Fortunately, by a kind of miracle, three buildings remain and are physically connected: 103 Washington Street, an Arab church that served as a Irish bar for many years; 105-107 Washington Street, a community house inaugurated by the governor of New York to serve the Little Syria neighborhood; and 109 Washington Street, ...
Arab American National Museum Plans to Honor Ameen Rihani
This year, the annual Arab American Book Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C., organized by the Arab American National Museum, plans to incorporate the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Book of Khalid. Well-known public radio host Diane Rehm shall present an achievement award in honor of Ameen Rihani, and this promises to be a special evening in the centennial year. The award ceremony will be a free event at the Carnegie Institution for Science at 1530 P Street NW on Thursday, September 29 at 8 PM. I would encourage all admirers of Rihani in Washington, D.C. metro area to attend, and you can click here to RSVP online. Business attire is suggested. The full award-winners are: Loom by Thérése Souk ar Chehade Arab Americans in Toledo: Cultural Assimilation and Community Involvement by Samir Abu-Absi Tocqueville by Khaled Mattawa Saving Sky by Diane Stanley 2011 HONORABLE MENTIONS Barefoot in Baghdad by Manal Omar This Isa Nice Neighborhood by Farid Matuk Time To Pray by Maha Addasi LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Ameen Rihani
New Article in Italian about Correspondence Between Ameen Rihani and Khalil Gibran (Francesco Medici)
In this article in La rivista di Arablit, Francesco Medici publishes, for the first time in the Italian language, the letters between Gibran and Rihani. They revolve around the common interest of the two in building a movement among the Lebanese and Syrians toward independence from Ottoman rule and Western colonization. The article also includes the first Italian translation of Rihani’s poem inspired by Gibran's death, a kind of final farewell letter to his close friend. The full citation is: F. Medici, "Figli dei cedri in America. Il carteggio tra Gubran Khalil Gubran e Amin Faris al-Rihani", La rivista di Arablit, anno I, numero 1, giugno 2011, pp. 83-112.
New York Public Library Announces Event to Celebrate Ameen Rihani and The Book of Khalid (October 25)
The New York Public Library has now announced its event to held on Tuesday, October 25 at 6PM to celebrate 100 years of the Arab-American novel and to explore the long history of Arab and Lebanese life in Lower Manhattan. The centennial of Rihani's novel coincidentally matches the centennial celebration of the Library itself and its central Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street where the event will be held; hence, the Rihani event is to be folded into a series of events associated with the theme of "100 years." This venue is quite appropriate as we could even say that Rihani, who never had any formal education, was educated in the library's stacks and reading rooms. Moreover, they also certainly hold the most storied copy of the 1911 edition of The Book of Khalid; for me, sentimentally, it was the only edition I could find when I was first seeking to read the work years ago. Below is the description from the New York Public Library's website, and I hope you will mark the event on your calendar. This evening will serve as the foundation of a week of events in the city to celebrate Rihani and the centennial ...
Wall Street Journal on Ameen Rihani and Project Khalid (“An Arab for Ground Zero”)
On Tuesday, May 24, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece ("An Arab For Ground Zero") by columnist and former presidential speechwriter William McGurn that advances Ameen Rihani's overwhelming relevance at this moment in time. I am hopeful that it will introduce, in particular, more New Yorkers to Ameen Rihani and the Arab and Lebanese history in Lower Manhattan. Many people are still not aware that the area along Washington Street, from the present-day World Trade Center-site to Battery Park, was once the center of Arab life in the United States. This is a great time to raise the topic as I will be in New York this week for a series of events related to Rihani. I will be speaking about the centennial of The Book of Khalid at two dinners (the Women's National Republican Club on May 24 and the Salaam Club on May 25). And, on Thursday, May 26, the Arab-American National Museum is holding a fundraiser to support a photography exhibit on Little Syria itself. If you have any question about my "dream" or about the centennial of The Book of Khalid, please call me at +1 857.234.0920 or email me at toddfine@projectkhalid.org. ...
New Arabic Edition of The Book of Khalid (Maher Kayyali)
The Arab Institute for Research and Publishing has recently released a new edition of Asad Razzouk's 1986 Arabic translation of The Book of Khalid. With the extraordinary interest shown in the Arab world for the centennial celebrations in the United States and around the world, we hope that this edition will make Rihani's masterwork, and his thinking, available to many more people, including those who cannot read the sophisticated English of the original. In the last few days, a number of major media sources -- including al-Jarida, al-Bayan, and ad-Dustour -- have reported on the significance of this new edition. I see the new availability of the Arabic translation as a crucial part of the centennial year, and I hope that it will receive continued attention and serious readership. Next week, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, Mr. Maher Kayyali, the chief editor of the Arab Institute for Research and Publishing will be speaking at the Women's National Republican Club dinner in Manhattan to celebrate the centennial. I hope that admirers of Ameen Rihani in the New York area will be able to join us and listen to Mr. Kayyali, as well as Caroline Ziade, the ...
