Tarek Eltayeb at Shambaugh House
Appearing: Sunday, July 18, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Shambaugh House, 430 N. Clinton St., Iowa City
Website: http://iwp.uiowa.edu/index.html
Faculty member for the International Writing Program's Between the Lines, Tarek Eltayeb will be reading from his work, including his latest novel, Cities without Palms.
In a desperate attempt to save his mother and two sisters from famine and disease, a young man leaves his native village in Sudan and sets out alone to seek work in the city. This is the beginning of Hamza’s long journey. Hunger and destitution lead him ever farther from his home: first from Sudan to Egypt, where the lack of work forces him to join a band of smugglers, and finally from Egypt to Europe—Italy, France, Holland—where he experiences first-hand the harsh world of migrant laborers and the bitter realities of life as an illegal immigrant. Tarek Eltayeb’s first novel offers an uncompromising depiction of poverty in both the developed and the developing world. With its simple yet elegant style, Cities without Palms tells of a tragic human life punctuated by moments of true joy.
For the third year in a row, the International Writing Program, in cooperation with the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio (IYWS), will host the Between the Lines (BTL) program. Twelve young writers from Arabic-speaking countries, aged 16-19, will be invited to the University of Iowa, where they will participate in writing workshops, visit local sights, and deepen their understanding of the United States through interactions with fellow students and the community.
Tarek Eltayeb was born in Cairo in 1959, the son of Sudanese parents. He has been living in Vienna since 1984.
He studied Social and Economic Sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and is currently a Professor at the International Management Center / University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria.
He has been writing since 1985. In addition to seven published books in Arabic, three books have appeared in German translation. He has also been translated into English, Italian, Macedonian, French and Ukranian.
He has received numerous fellowships and awards, most recently the Elias Cannetti Fellowship of the City of Vienna.
