In Celebration of noam keim's The Land is Holy

Join AAWW in-person and online for a celebration of writer noam keim's The Land is Holy. noam will be joined by Palestinian American writer, Sarah Aziza, and Syrian American playwright, Michael Zalta.

This event is in collaboration with our friends at Radix Media, a worker owned printer and publisher based in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about their work here.

The Land is Holy is a debut collection of anti-zionist, abolitionist, queer essays exploring the inhabitants of the natural world through threads of trauma, colonialism, and healing, is arriving May 28, 2024. Born a Queer Arab Jew in a settler family in Occupied Palestine, raised in the cobblestone streets of Mulhouse, France; a lifetime of escape across Europe, the foothills of Himalayas in Nepal, Bangkok, and then the makings of a chosen family on Occupied Lenape Land, known as Philadelphia. Through it all, the memory of one’s homes, the persistence of kin persecuted across timelines, their complicity in settler colonialism, and a dogged disavowal of inherited trauma. In this staunchly anti-zionist and abolitionist project, the author considers the wounds of diaspora ache by turning to the fierce primal inhabitants of their lineage for answers.

The event will take place at AAWW's space, at 112 West 27th Street #600 New York, NY 10001 and via live stream!

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noam keim (they/them) is a trauma worker, medicine maker and flâneur freak. Born a settler of Occupied Palestine in an Arab Jewish family hailing from Morocco, noam grew up in France, first in Mulhouse at the German and Swiss border, before moving to Paris for their studies. After graduating from their masters in American Visual Culture, noam moved to Ann Arbor Michigan for a fellowship. Many tribulations with immigration later, they now live on stolen Lenni-Lenape land (known as Philadelphia) where they build webs of support for individuals impacted by carceral systems. They believe that their childhood antizionist beliefs is what brought them to their abolitionist practices. Their non-fiction writing weaves themes close to their heart: reverence to the land, healing, queerness, colonialism, plants, abolition.

They are a Lambda Literary ’22 Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellow, a Roots.Wounds.Words ‘23 fellow, a Tin House Winter Workshop ‘23 participant and a Sewanee ’23 contributor. They are a Periplus ‘23 Fellow mentored by Grace Talusan and their writing as been published or is forthcoming in ALOCASIA, Foglifter, The Massachusetts Review, The Kenyon Review and others. Connect on Twitter and IG: thelandisholy or thelandisholy.com.

Sarah Aziza is a Palestinian American writer who splits her time between Brooklyn and the Middle East. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Baffler, Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times, Lux Magazine, the Intercept, the Rumpus, and the Nation, among others. Previously a Fulbright fellow in Jordan, she was a 2022 resident at Tin House Writer’s Workshop, and a 2023 Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers Workshop. She is currently working on her first book, a hybrid work of memoir, lyricism, and oral history exploring the intertwined legacies of diaspora, colonialism, and the American dream.

Michael Zalta is a queer Syrian American playwright, producer, editor, and scholar who was raised in the orthodox Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn, New York. His dramatic writing has been developed and presented at the Lark, the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, NYU's Jerry H. Labowitz Theater, amongst other places. His critical writing has been published by Zaman Collective and Protocols. As a producer, he has worked on several experimental films like Amanda Kramer's, "Give Me Pity!" and Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn’s "Dream Team." As an editor, he works closely with scholars, leftist advocacy organizations, and artists, including Ariella Aisha Azoulay and Diaspora Alliance. He is presently working toward his PhD at USC's department of Comparative Literature and Culture, where he focuses on the aesthetics of 20th century Marxist movements in the Arab world, Palestinian cinema, and the modern history of Levantine Jewry.

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ACCESSIBILITY & SAFETY

The event will be live streamed with auto captioning for those who cannot join us in-person. For those joining us in our space, we are located on the 6th floor, there is an elevator that will take you directly to our space. To protect our friends with chemical sensitivities, AAWW is a fragrance-free space. Masks are required for all attendees; if you forget yours, one will be provided for you. We have three commercial grade air purifiers in the space, and a quiet room in the back should you need some space from the crowd. With the current surge of COVID cases, we highly encourage you to take a test at home prior to the event. If you have had COVID or have had known contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID in the 10 days prior to the event, we ask you tune in for the live stream instead. Please reach out to dmanibo@aaww.org for additional accessibility requests, including ADA accessible bathrooms, chairs with added back support, and beyond. This space is for YOU!