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Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads: Author Rachel DeWoskin Discusses Her Experiences In China and Her Memoir "Foreign Babes In Beijing"
In conjunction with Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2008, AADL is delighted to welcome Ann Arbor native and author Rachel DeWoskin in a discussion of her experiences as a foreigner in China, her popular memoir, and the progress in making her novel into a major motion picture from Paramount Pictures -- including updates on casting the film. DeWoskin, an award-winning poet, is the Associate Poetry Editor at Agni Magazine, and an artist-in-residence at Teachers & Writers. She teaches creative writing at New York University. The event will include a booksigning, with books available for purchase."Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China" (W.W. Norton, 2005) has been published in five countries. Her novel, "Aysha's English," is forthcoming in 2008. She has published poems in magazines including Ploughshares, Seneca Review, The New Delta Review, and Nerve Magazine, and non-fiction in the Sunday Times Magazine of London, Conde Nast Traveler, Departures, Teachers & Writers Magazine and Wanderlust, an anthology by Thundersmouth Press.
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Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Event: Working Together: the Arab and Jewish Women of Ann Arbor's Zeitouna
Zeitouna is a local group composed of six Arab and six Jewish women from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. All are American citizens. They are a dialogue group and, over the past two years, have found ways to discuss the Middle East, including their own personal stories and the politics of peace. They named their group Zeitouna, Arabic for olive - both the fruit and the tree.Zeitouna's stated mission is "to embody and promote the peaceful and just coexistence of Arab and Jewish peoples through connection, trust, empathy and actions focused on the creation of a sustainable future for Palestine and Israel. At this special program, members Wadad Abed, Irene Butter, Huda Karaman, and Laurie White discuss their own stories as well as Zeitouna's challenges and achievements.Come learn how this powerful local group has made inroads in dialogue and understanding of cultures.Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book.Library, University and community representatives from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti have modeled the read after the previous two reads which focused on the books Abraham Lincoln's DNA (in 2003) and 'Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race (in 2004). In 2005, the program will encourage readers of all ages to explore the Cultural Treasures of the Middle East - its many shared and diverse histories, memories and traditions of creative expressions.A selection committee of community leaders, students and educators in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area chose Amin Maalouf's Leo Africanus, translated by Peter Sluglett, as the focus of Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2005. This is the first time a work of fiction has been chosen for the Read. Written in the form of a memoir, Leo Africanus explores Islam and Christendom through the fictional adventures of a real-life Arab traveler and geographer. Copies of the book are available at all Ann Arbor District Library sites and at area bookstores.For more information about Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads, check out the website at www.aareads.org.
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Gala Tubingen Sister City Celebration
This gala reception to welcome the official delegation of 27 citizens from Tubingen, Germany, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Sister City relationship between the two cities. This public event will also feature elegant refreshments and music from the award-winning Community High School Jazz band. The event also highlights the Library's May photo exhibit, "Images of Tubingen.Hosted by Library Director Josie Parker, the reception will also feature remarks by Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, Tubingen Lord Mayor Brigitte Russ-Scherer and other dignitaries. Tubingen became Ann Arbor's first sister city in 1965 - the year this historic university town won the prestigious Europe Prize. But the relationship was as old as the waves of German settlers who came here in the 19th century from the region known as "Swabia" in southwest Germany. By the 1960s, high school teachers in both cities were arranging music exchanges.Since 1965, the Tubingen and Ann Arbor citizens have lived in each other's homes, and traveled together at home and abroad for days or weeks at a time. Today, Ann Arbor has seven sister cities and Tubingen has eight, but they continue to be each other's only American-European partner.The photo display "Images of Tubingen" will be on display in the Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room from April 16 through May 30. Yvonne Berardi, Alexander Gonschior, and Ulrich Metz - three of Tubingen's regional photographers - have captured the city's charm with these photographs. Ranging from grandiose panorama pictures to impressions of everyday life, they portray the city's beauty, and the beauty of living there.
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The Many Villages of Mexico with Stephanie Schneiderman of Tia Stephanie Tours
Mexico -- a country so close, yet whose customs are so different from ours; a country that is much more than its beaches. Using many colorful photographs and anecdotes from past journeys, you can visit this intriguing country through Stephanie's eyes. Tia Stephanie Tours designs and leads small group cultural journeys to Mexico, focusing on folk art, people and customs, pre-Hispanic civilizations, flora and fauna. Stephanie will provide an introduction to the landmarks, cultural traditions and beauty that is Mexico. Tia Stephanie Tours combines education with off-the-path itineraries and is designed to build greater understanding and appreciation of the richness and complexity of Mexico and the Mexican people. Schneiderman was born in Havana, grew up in Mexico City, lived in and studied in Miami and went to Graduate School in Phoenix. She has a BA in Political Science/International Relations, a Certificate in Latin American/Caribbean Studies from Florida International University, and a Masters Degree in International Management. Stephanie has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and, given her fluency in Spanish, has gained access to many off-the-path locations and communities.