Final lecture of this year’s York-Noor series part of Luminato

The finale of the York-Noor Annual Lecture Series for the 2010-11 academic year will feature Arabic literature Professor Muhsin al-Musawi of Columbia University at Luminato, Toronto’s annual multidisciplinary celebration of the arts.

One of the Arab world’s renowned literary critics and leading expert on The Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories known to many as the Arabian Nights, al-Musawi is the author of some 24 books, including four novels, as well as several critical monographs and academic articles.

Left: Muhsin al-Musawi

On Saturday, June 18, al-Musawi will represent the York-Noor Lecture Series’ contribution to the Luminato festival’s panel discussion on Modern Takes on Old Stories, hosted by Matthew Jocelyn, artistic and general director of Canadian Stage. The event will take place from 4:30 to 6pm, in Jackman Hall at the Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St. W., Toronto. A Q&A will follow the discussion.

The panel addresses the art of literary adaptation and imbuing old narratives with modern meaning and relevance. The expertise of al-Musawi on The Thousand and One Nights will provide a critical interaction with the current adaptation of this literary narrative by the Lebanese author Hanan al-Shaykh and its creative adaptation to theatre by director Tim Supple, commissioned by Luminato and premiering this week in Toronto.

On Sunday, June 19 al-Musawi will discuss his most recent book, The Islamic Context of The Thousand and One Nights (Columbia University Press, 2009), in the auditorium of the Noor Cultural Centre, from 3 to 5pm, 123 Wynford Dr. (Don Valley Parkway and Eglinton Avenue) in Toronto. Admission is $5.

This presentation is the final lecture of this year’s York-Noor Lecture Series’ Recent Publications on Islam and Muslim Societies, which featured renowned international scholars on Islam and Muslim societies in the fields of religious studies, history, literature and law from the universities of Columbia, Chicago, New York and Georgetown in the United States and the University of Toronto.

Left: Ruba Kana’an

The 2010-11 York-Noor Lecture Series is organized and moderated by Professor Ruba Kana’an, the Noor Chair of Islamic Studies at York. “The lecture series provides York students and scholars the opportunity to discuss critical issues and ideas and engage with world-renowned academics working on historical and contemporary issues in Islam and Muslim Societies,” says Kana’an.

For more information on the York-Noor Lecture Series, visit the Noor Cultural Centre website.