| Join us to celebrate the book launch of Ammiel Alcalay‘s CONTROLLED DEMOLITION: a work in four books with a reading by Ammiel Alcalay, music by Safira Berrada-Riggs on ‘oud and vocals, and an introduction and conversation with Zhora Saed. |
| Fri, Sep 19th, 6:00 PM. Martin E. Segal Theatre, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, NYC. Free and open to all. Registration required. |
| Join Lost & Found and Litmus Press for an evening of readings, music, and conversation to celebrate and launch poet, translator, critic, and scholarAmmiel Alcalay‘s highly-anticipated, monumental new book CONTROLLED DEMOLITION: a work in four books (Litmus Press, 2025). Alcalay will be introduced by Zohra Saed, followed by a musical introduction by Safira Berrada-Riggs on ‘oud and vocals. CONTROLLED DEMOLITION: a work in four books combines three of Ammiel Alcalay’s previously published poetic texts—Scrapmetal (2007), the cairo notebooks (1993), and from the warring factions (2002)—with a new work, “Controlled Demolition.” Unlike most writing categorized as “documentary” poetry, here the author and his process are constant reference points, serving as a prism to refract changes over time and circumstance in what becomes a mix of memoir, poetry, auto-critique, prose narrative, history, and investigative journalism by other means. Books will be available at the reading, which will be followed by a reception. Register to attend here. |
| About the Author |
| Poet, novelist, translator, essayist, critic, and scholar Ammiel Alcalay’s latest books are CONTROLLED DEMOLITION: a work in four books, his co-translation of Nasser Rabah’s Gaza: The Poem Said Its Piece, and the forthcoming Follow the Person: Archival Encounters. In 2017, he received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for his work as founder and General Editor of Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative; he is a Distinguished Professor at Queens College and the CUNY Graduate Center. |
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