AUK’s Literary fest roundtable discusses migration & identity

Favourite authors, poets take part

Part of the book signing

KUWAIT CITY, April 12: A roundtable discussion on migration, identity, and cultural transformation was held at the American University of Kuwait. The event was the culmination of AUK’s third biennial literary festival that has provided AUK’s community and the public an opportunity to meet and converse with their favorite authors and poets.

The panel was moderated by the dean of Academic Support Services in AUK Dr Mary Queen, and included the festival’s main guest authors Sinan Antoon and Randa Jarrar, in addition to Kuwaiti author Mai Al-Nakib.

The award-winning panel members and authors of novels, short stories, and poems reflected on their individual life experiences and how these experiences shaped their writings.

The discussion highlighted how the world currently witnesses large population migrations, resulting in raising questions related to identity and its definition.

The discussion was then extended to include questions from the audience before ending the event with book signings by the three authors.

Sinan Antoon is an Iraqi-born professor at New York University, author and poet.

Jarrar, who lived in Kuwait for most of her childhood years, is an Arab-American faculty member at Fresno State University, author, and translator. Mai Al-Nakib is a faculty member at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Arts and an author of a collection of short stories. AUK’s biennial literary festival is a collaboration between AUK’s Writing Center and the university’s Library.