Harold Veeser

I’ll be reading with Matthew Mead at Alwan for the Arts on May 19th. Here are the directions.

http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/537

Mead and Veeser will strap on the Kevlar and barge into the ultimate redoubt of unconditional Said-love. Yes, at great risk to ourselves we have accepted the gig at Book Culture, a store in the deepest center of Columbia’s Morningside Heights. In this misleadingly cheery space, a large portrait of a very watchful Edward Said looms over the cash registers. Whole sections of shelves are dedicated to Said’s works and the works of his devotees. His demon child postcolonial criticism commands ever wider swathes of the store. Wine will be served and the Said fundamentalists may be hard to control. Matthew and I expect heavy fire. A good time for all is guaranteed. Download PDF of Flyer

More info at Book Culture.

This samizdat clip provided by writer and publicist Erienne Rojas.

Download Audio File

Alwan for the Arts, the always percolating crossroads of middle-east cultures, has scheduled a multimedia performance around Edward Said: The Charisma of Criticism. Digital wizard Matthew Mead pumps in the creative juice, and H. Aram Veeser supplies the gravitas. The downtown vibe of Alwan matches the Mead and Veeser brand of cultural craziness. Images, theater, and sound clips all serve to illustrate Said’s charisma, which is, unexpectedly, not an entirely positive word. The real drama follows the talk: questions, answers, and debate. Alwan’s space is limited, so come early and ready to rumble.

Has civilization invented anything better than the booktalk-in-a-bar. The booze had been poured freely by the time Matthew and I took the stage. The assembled writers, poets, critics, DJs, regulars, students, and passers-by seemed to think it was the most natural thing in the world. Nobody blinked as we abandoned all profundities and slammed ahead with our dramatic enactments of Edward Said’s zanier tough-man contests with hecklers. Attention was paid it seems because, after the events, two friends stepped forward with great suggestions. One: in future, we might enhance performativity by having audience throw papier-mache rocks when we project the scandal-making Said rock-thrower photograph. Two: we might encourage members of the audience to heckle us when we re-enact the Said-shuts-down-hecklers episodes. We are considering whether these improvements can be carried off in soberer surrounds like the upcoming talks at Book Culture (11 May) and ALWAN for the ARTS (19 May).

I’ll be reading from Edward Said: The Charisma of Criticism on the 16th of April at La Pregunta Arts Cafe at 7pm. The address is 1528 Amsterdam Avenue, in front of City College, 2 blocks from the #1 train. Here’s a link to La Pregunta’s Map/Directions on Google.

The launch party for Edward Said: The Charisma of Criticism, drew 100+. Many stayed to drink wine and beer and eat fantastic hummus, soujouk, and basturma provided by Anny Bakalian and the Middle East and Middle-Eastern American Center, who went all out hosting the event. A friend flew in from London to see it and posted a nice comment on her FB page: Nouritza Matossian. Then, because she was staying with the German Ambassador Peter Wittig and his wife, Huberta von Voss-Wittig, we all went out to dinner on Monday. The ambassador was reading me book and talked to me about it all through dinner. A couple of additional requests for speaking dates also came in: one at the Rifkind Center at CUNY, the other at La Pregunta bar in Harlem on April 16. Matthew Mead, creative genius, and I are set to do both.

We didn’t get a tape of the show. I had a cameraman but there was a mixup and nobody had a webcam. The host Anny Bakalian took some photos with a small camera and has promised to send me some of the shots.

People seem to want to know more about the backstory of the book, the anecdotes and personal history that got left on the cutting room floor. The Q & A at the talk was the best one I’ve ever had, in part cause I kept everything personal and told stories. I avoided the more abstract maunderings that any academic is likely to fall prey to. The cross section of colleagues, students, gym buddies, and residents of my building seemed well satisfied with the performance. We sold all the books. Feedback on the book has been enthusiastic. It’s a small book with big print and for that reason is inviting.

With my colleague Matthew Mead I’m giving this performance on Friday for the launch of Edward Said - The Charisma of Criticism at The Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at CUNY.

The event will take place at 365 Fifth Ave, at 34th St. New York, NY from 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Copy goes here

Download Audio File