This week’s podcast features the event “Memorial Reading for Mutanabbi Street” commemorating the March 5, 2007 car bombing on Mutanabbi Street— the lively center of Baghdad bookselling. Poets and writers who participated include Chris Abani, Beau Beausoleil, Laila Lalami, Suzanne Lummis, Majid Naficy, Marisela Norte, Sholeh Wolpé, Terry Wolverton, with Iraqi music by the Saadoun Ay-Bayati Ensemble.

The event was presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and cosponsored by Levantine Cultural Center, with support from the LA Poetry Festival, PEN Center USA, and Red Hen Press. It was moderated by Jordan Elgrably, Louise Steinman, and Justin Veach, and recorded on November 19, 2008.