Egyptian Dinner and a Reading: "Echoes of the Soul: Reflections on Love, Faith, Alienation, and Exile"

Reading and discussion with author Mukhtar Saad Shehata

November 21, 2024 - 5:30-7:30pm

Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, CFA 111

Author and ASAR fellow Mukhtar Saad Shehata will read excerpts from his books Salvador (2022) and ATM (forthcoming 2025). His writing conveys perceptions of faith and love as a means to peace, in contrast to conflict, in an Arab society, and their impact on creating some of the myths in Egyptian society. In discussion following the reading, Shehata will also share his reflections on alienation and writing in exile.

Reading and interpretation by Seth McCombie, Ph.D. candidate in Second Language Acquisition.

Moderated by Nevine Abraham, Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic Studies, Dept of Languages, Cultures, and Applied Linguistics.

Food will be catered by Pitaland.

Mukhtar Saad Shehata is a novelist and ethnographer, born in the Egyptian Delta. He graduated from the University of Bahia (UNBE) in Brazil and works as a Research Fellow in the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University. He has published a number of novels, stories, and research books and has written for many magazines and cultural websites. He is currently interested in issues of social change, class, gender resistance, and urbanism in rural Egypt after 2011.

Mukhtar grew up in a household where his mother challenged traditions and patriarchal norms, an influence that shaped his worldview. Motivated by her defiance, he turned to ethnography as a means of documenting societal transformations and advocating for breaking stereotypes, regardless of the consequences. His writing delves into themes of faith, love, and alienation, examining how these experiences contribute to shaping individual identity, separate from the collective consciousness.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for the Arts in Society and the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Applied Linguistics.