BY KAREN FLETCHER
MELBOURNE — The 2003 Melbourne Writers Festival will open on August 21 with a keynote address by Tariq Ali, the radical London-based author of the anti-imperialist bestseller The Clash of Fundamentalisms.
Ali's address, "War, Empire, Resistance: Welcome to the 21st Century", will be just one highlight of the festival that will interest people looking for an alternative explanation of the rise of the US "empire".
"Beyond the Storm" is an series of sessions that will introduce the literature of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. On August 26, Fatemah Vafaeinjad, an artist who has held teaching positions in Iran and Pakistan, Mammad Aidani, a published playwright and novelist born in Iran and a resident in Australia since 1982, and Seyed Sadraldin Emamifar, a specialist in Persian literature from Tehran University, will discuss Iranian literature and culture.
On August 27, Iraq's literature will be discussed by Muhammad Kamal, a lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne, Aowham Mamsar, who arrived in Australia in 2000 after completing a teaching diploma at Baghdad University, and Akil Al Manqosh, who spent four years in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia where he wrote poetry that has been published in India, Saudi Arabia, England and Australia.
On August 28, Afghan culture and literature will be discussed by Jalal Noorani, Afghanistan's most famous satirical writer now based in Melbourne, Kabul-born Dr Faridullah Bezhan, Khalil Akbari, and Zaman Ibrahimi.
The festival includes a must-see panel on Aboriginal history featuring Robert Manne, Patrick Dodson, Henry Reynolds and Malcolm Fraser on August 23. There will also be a panel on journalism featuring investigative journalist Wendy Bacon, Pamela Bone and Peter Davis on August 23.
The topic "Demonisation and dehumanisation: the manipulation of representation for political purposes" will be examined by Anouar Benmalek, Tariq Ali, Gil Courtemanche, Sylvia Lawson and Michael Leunig on August 23. George Orwell's writings will be dissected by Robert Manne, Ed Campion, Judith Brett and Barry Hill on August 29.
The Melbourne Writers Festival will take place from August 21 to August 31 at The CUB Malthouse, the Melbourne Town Hall and other venues around Melbourne. The full program, including session times is available at .
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, August 20, 2003.
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