Category: projects

Only a poet

One of the most fascinating people I’ve met at this conference is Shane Carreon, a beautiful poet working on hir PhD at Binghamton University, living between Cebu and New York. I am attaching the only bit of hir poetry I could find online. Loved what Shane said after the screening of A Thin Wall – how even though the violence of the partition is present in the film, in all its sharpness, its edges are softened by the visual quality of the film. Only a poet…

literary evening at binghamton university

wonderful pre-conference #literary #evening at #binghamtonuniversity where i had the #pleasure of listening to #readings by #shanecarreon #lubnachaudhry and #sorayyakhan
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loved the last #poem by shane carreon which urged us not to subscribe to #binaries
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describing #drought as #intensely #bright the #poem ends with a #prayer for #darkness
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#stunning. pictures here.

My piece: Struggling against anti-Semitism is permanently intertwined with the fight against Islamophobia

My piece on Mondoweiss. I wrote it on the day of the attack on the synagogue in #Pittsburgh. It could have been more fleshed out, but I wanted to share these thoughts urgently. More here.

At The Spirit Room Rochester

At The Spirit Room Rochester tonight where Albert Abonado, Chen Chen and myself read our work. So lovely to be surrounded by/share with other writers of color, in such a warm, welcoming space. Thx for organizing Sejal Shah and thx to all those who came out to support us. View pictures here and short video clip here.

mara ahmed at the spirit room

Kundiman at the Spirit Room: A Fall Reading

Dear friends, I am honored to be #reading my work with #Asian American writers and poets Albert Abonado, Chen Chen, and Margaret Rhee at The Spirit Room in #Rochester #NY on Sunday, Oct 28 at 7pm. I’ve written a brand new piece about the languages I love and live in. I am thrilled to share it with u. Hope u can make it! Thank u Sejal Shah for organizing this.

Mara Ahmed’s unwavering lens

Am so very moved by and thankful for E.C. Salibian’s attentive, honest, and profound writing about my work. Published in the first issue ever of the Rochester Beacon (a group of veteran journalists and others with deep ties to the Rochester community providing local news coverage and analysis), the article quotes/mentions so many people I love and am grateful for. This gives me more pleasure than anything. Thank you Nilofar Saleem, Saleem Murtaza, Aitezaz Ahmed, Gibran Ahmed, Mimi Ahmed, Muhammad Shafiq, Cat Ashworth, Rajesh Barnabas, Mariko Yamada, Joyce Edwards, Surbhi Dewan, Donna K. Khorsheed, and Tonya Noel ♥

Read article here.

prelude to ballet performance at tryon park

#gorgeous #dance #shoot at #tryonpark today in #rochesterny for The Injured Body: A Film about Racism in America
a #prelude to a #ballet #performance that #celebrates the #fall

#inspired by the #work of #artist #maimounaguerresi

#performed by María José Rodríguez-Torrado
#choreography by Mariko Yamada
#cinematography by Rajesh Barnabas
#directed by Mara Ahmed

Kundiman at the Spirit Room: A Fall Reading

Dear friends, I am honored to be reading my work with Asian American writers and poets Albert Abonado, Chen Chen, and Margaret Rhee at The Spirit Room Rochester on Sunday, Oct 28 at 7pm. I’ve written a brand new piece about the languages I love and live in. Thank u Sejal Shah for organizing this. Hope u can make it 🙂

rain by any other name

i read this piece at a speak easy today, about how much i love rain – its fragrance and sounds take me back to lahore. in the Q&A, i was asked about how many words there are for rain in urdu. since rain is so rare, and crucial, in the subcontinent perhaps we have more words for it than in english (famously, there are 50 eskimo words for snow). i asked my mom and dad and this is what we came up with. friends who are urdu speakers, can u think of more?
1) baarish
2) bundabandi
3) pohar
4) rimjhim
5) musaladhar
6) barkha
7) saanvan
8) bochharh
9) barsaat
10) baraan-e-rehmat
11) abr-e-karam
12) meenh
13) pani parna