WRITERS READ PRESENTS IMAN MERSAL

Iman Mersal is an Egyptian poet, essayist, translator and literary scholar. Currently Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Alberta, she is the author of five books of Arabic poetry, selections from which have been translated into numerous languages. In English translation, her poems have appeared in The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, Parnassus, Paris Review, and The Nation, among others. The Threshold, a selection of Mersal’s work translated into English by Robyn Creswell, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2022, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Prize. Mersal is the recipient of the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in Literature for her creative nonfiction work Traces of Enayat. Robin Moger’s translation of Traces was published by And Other Stories (UK), in August 2023.

On November 6th, Iman Mersal will be joined on a panel by writers/scholars Alexei Perry Cox and Emma Haraké. Iman will read her poetry in Arabic, its original language, and include excerpts from her upcoming collection, "Traces of Enayat." It will then be read in English by one of the panelists. A conversation and question and answer period will follow.

Writers Read is part of Concordia University’s Creative Writing program and is supported by the Department of English and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Writers Read, directed by Professor Sina Queyras since 2011, invites renowned and emerging authors, both Canadian and international, to read from and discuss their work with students and local audiences. In addition to readings, the series includes Master Classes and professional developmental activities spanning the school year.

This event is free and open to all.