Translator Paula Haydar, assistant professor of Arabic in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, will read from one of her recent publications, Jabbour Douaihy's Firefly (Seagull Books, 2022), co-translated with Nadine Sinno.

Firefly is a searing portrait of the city of Beirut at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in the early 1970s, as seen through the eyes of its simple, yet perplexing, protagonist, Nizam al-Alami. On Nizam's national ID card, no religion is listed. Muslim by birth, he is Christian by baptism. As a young boy, he found his way into an orchard while playing, and its owners, Touma and Rakheema, instantly fell for him and agreed to raise him as their own, as a Christian, without much resistance from his Muslim parents.

The novel by Douaihy (deceased) was translated by Haydar and Sinno. Haydar, an assistant professor of Arabic in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the U of A, will read from the translated edition and sign books.

Information for the Reading

• Location: Pearl's Books — 28 E. Center St., Fayetteville
• Date: Thursday, Feb. 23
• Time: 6:30-8 p.m.

More information on Haydar and her work is available on her faculty website.