Poetic Voices of the Muslim World: The Worlds of the Ghazal With Syed Akbar Hyder and Kiran Ahluwalia

Poetic Voices of the Muslim World Event: The lovely ghazal form of poetry, with its intricate rhyme, is often set to music. Its subject matter includes both erotic longing and religious belief or mysticism. Dr Hyder of the University of Texas-Austin offers a brief history of this form with thoughtful readings of work by two Urdu masters.

Dr. Hyder’s discussion will be followed by a performance by two-time Juno Award-winning artist Kiran Ahluwalia and her accompanist Rez Abbasi, who bring contemporary stylings to this timeless work. Presented in conjunction with the Poetic Voices of the Muslim World exhibit on display through November 30, 2015, supported by Poets House and City Lore, in partnership with the American Library Association and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System with funding from the Bridging Cultures Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. Additional support was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

All library programs are free and open to the public.