Events

Event details

Mizna is proud to release its sports and social justice–themed issue Mizna: The Playing Field.

Join us for readings, snacks, and music as we celebrate the publication of Mizna’s 36th issue, which has a sports and social justice theme. Guest editor Shireen Ahmed who blogs about sports and politics will be visiting from Toronto. Hear about Nabil Amra’s experience as the first Palestinian participating in the around-the-world sailing race, the Golden Globe Race. Additional readings by Minneapolis based author and poet David Mura, and writer R.M.E.

WHEN: August 2, at 7 pm
WHERE: Subtext Books, 6 W 5th St, St. Paul, MN 55102
RSVP AND PREORDER A COPY OF MIZNA HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mizna-journal-release-the-playing-field-tickets-48038771258?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

ABOUT THE ISSUE:
Mizna: The Playing Field
In this issue, Mizna is focusing on sports! Considering the large-scale sports events happening in 2018, from the Winter Olympics to the World Cup, sports have been featured extensively in our news and media. In tandem with the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick’s civil disobedience, women in hijab at the Olympics, and the effect of the Israeli occupation on the ability of the Palestinian football team to compete, it’s clear that sports reach beyond entertainment, provoking dialogue about issues both worldwide and at home.

The issue is guest-edited by Shireen Ahmed whose blog about sports and politics, “Tales from a Hijabi Footballer” can be found at shireenahmed.com. Some of the authors featured in this journal include local theater artists Taous Khazem and Mohammed Yabdri who work between Algeria and Minnesota and Moroccan American writer Romaissaa Benzizoune, who has written the “Hijabi in Plain Sight” for McSweeney’s. Additionally, this issue includes a flash fiction from award-winning author of The Map of Salt and Stars, Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar and a creative essay by performing artist Robert Farid Karimi. We feature a story from Mizna’s archive by Laila Lalami, the acclaimed novelist, whose most recent novel, The Moor’s Account won the American Book Reward, Arab American Book Award, and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.

Mizna: The Playing Field also presents creative pieces and essays by Melika Belhaj, Diane DeCillis, Hasan Dudar, and Junichi P. Semistu. In addition to prose and poetry, this issue also includes an interview with Golden Globe skipper Nabil Amra and visual art by acclaimed Jordanian artist Ala Younis.