Events

Event details

The Loft’s first annual Wordplay, a weekend-long celebration of readers, writers, and community, will take place May 11-12! Wordplay will feature more than 100 authors with a variety of panels, events, and activities throughout the two-day celebration. As the publisher of the only Arab American literary journal the country, Mizna is excited to have a presence at this event. Read below about the discussions and activities we will host all weekend long

Switching Perspective: a discussion featuring Tommy Orange and Laila Lalami, moderated by Joseph Farag
WHEN: Saturday, May 11
2:30-3:30
WHERE: Guthrie McGuire Proscenium Stage
This event requires a ticket- for purchase, visit this link.

Mizna is proud to sponsor Switching Perspectives, a dialogue on representation and diversity in fiction, moderated by professor Joseph Farag. Debut novelist Tommy Orange, author of There There and Laila Lalami, author of The Other Americans discuss their latest works and offer thought-provoking conversation through the thoughts and experiences of diverse characters in captivating works of fiction. We’re happy to welcome Laila back to Minneapolis after hosting a reading of her novel The Moor’s Account in 2015. Laila’s work has also been published in Mizna.

As part of Wordplay 2019, Mizna will also be hosting a variety of activities at our booth, located in Expo Area G. Mizna merchandise, subscriptions, and journals will be available for purchase! Activities require Wordplay Street Fest access tickets. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit this link.

Seed Art: led by Cathy Camper
WHEN: Saturday, May 11
WHERE: Mizna table, Expo Area G
Cathy Camper will lead participants in making seed art with Arabic words, take your art piece home!

Cathy Camper is an artist, librarian and author of books for children and teens. Her visual arts and writing has been frequently published in Mizna since our founding in 1999. She is also a seed artist, and contributes her seed art to the Minnesota State Fair regularly. www.cathycamper.com

Print Your Own Broadside: led by local artist Lamia Abukhadra
WHEN: Sunday, May 12
WHERE: Mizna table, Expo Area G
Artist Lamia Abukhadra will lead the process of spoon printing hand-carved linoleum blocks onto broadsides featuring poetry published in Mizna. Broadsides will be printed with water-based ink and ready to take home!

Lamia Abukhadra is an interdisciplinary Palestinian American artist based in Minneapolis. www.lamiaabukhadra.com