James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge

Date: 29 November 2018Time: 5:30 PM

Finishes: 29 November 2018Time: 7:00 PM

Venue: MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell Square Room: MBI Al Jaber Seminar Room

Type of Event: Book Launch

Translated into English for the first time by James E. Montgomery, professor of Arabic at Cambridge University, and Richard Sieburth, Professor of English, French and Comparative Literature at NYU, War Songs (New York University Press, 2018) is a selection of poems taken from the Epic of ‘Antar, the story of outcast turned warrior and poet ‘Antarah ibn Shaddad. The son of an Arab father and Ethiopian slave mother, ‘Antarah was shunned from his community, and, not being fully Arab, had to fight to gain the recognition of his father and tribe. Despite the rejection he faced, ‘Antarah did not give up, and fought fiercely to defend his people, win their recognition and gain the woman of his dreams, ‘Ablah. ‘Antarah carefully documented his epic story, in which love and tenderness reside alongside blood-curdling violence, resulting in collection of verse that originates from the highlands of Najd on the eve of the rise of Islam, and which has inspired the Arabic world for generations.

Chair: Stefan Sperl, SOAS

Admission Free - All Welcome

Organiser: London Middle East Institute

Contact email: vp6@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: 020 7898 4330