February 12, 2001 Symposium on the Literature of Women's Human Rights to be Held at the Library on March 7

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202)707-0022
Public Contact: Mary-Jane Deeb (202)707-1221

In celebration of International Women's Day, the Library will present a symposium titled "Life Lines: The Literature of Women's Human Rights" on Wednesday, March 7, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E. Presented by the Library's African and Middle Eastern Division and the Women's Learning Partnership, the event is free and open to the public.

The participants in the program will read from their works, which reflect the discrimination women have faced in various parts of the world. They will also talk about women of courage and vision who have made a difference, and who have challenged traditional stereotypes. The program will be followed by a reception and book-signing.

Leila Ahmed, professor of Women's Studies at Harvard Divinity School, is the author of a recently published autobiographical book, A Border Passage from Cairo to America: A Woman's Journey. Before joining Harvard, she was the director of both the Women's Studies Program and the Near Eastern Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and wrote critical studies on Muslim women, including Women and Gender in Islam.

Goli Taraghi, an Iranian prize-winning short story writer and novelist, is the author of The Great Lady of My Soul. She has also written the scripts for two major Iranian films, "Pear Tree" and "Bita."

Abena Busia, a Ghanain poet and writer, received her doctorate from Oxford University and is currently an English professor at Rutgers University. She is the author of Theorizing Black Feminisms and Testimonies in Exile.

Marjorie Agosin teaches in the Spanish Department at Wellesley College. She was recently honored with the United Nations Leadership Award for Human Rights. Her many works include An Absence of Shadow, Always from Somewhere Else, My Jewish Fathers, and an anthology of women's writings on human rights, A Map of Hope.

Emma Sepulveda is a professor in the Foreign Language and Literature Department at the University of Nevada and a columnist for the Reno Gazette Journal. She is the author of Testimonio Femenino Como Escritura Contestataria.

The Women's Learning Partnership is a private organization that supports women around the world.

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PR 01-023
2001-02-12
ISSN 0731-3527