Beirut Summer - Poetry of Catherine Evans Latta accompanied by the music of A.J. Racy and drums of Souhail Kaspar

Catherine Evans Latta will be reading her cycle of poems "Beirut Summer" - war poems from a woman's point of view, and Professor A.J. Racy will accompany her reading on Middle Eastern flutes and drum. Prof. Ali Jihad Racy is an internationally known composer and a performer of Middle Eastern music. His books have been published by Cambridge Univ. Press. He was commissioned to compose for the Kronos Quartet and performed with them at Memorial Auditorium. Last September, Prof. Racy performed with The Whirling Dervishes of Damascus as part of the Yo-Yo Ma Silk Road Concert. Catherine Evans Latta is a former National Advisory Panel member and Chair of the Associates Program of the Clayman Institute. She studied at Stanford with Denise Levertov in l981-82 and was on the faculty of the American University of Beirut up until the Lebanese Civil War. Souhail Kaspar is a Grammy-nominated Master Percussionist known world-wide for his brilliant technique, exciting performances and teaching skills. A true virtuoso, his ability to improvise and embellish the rhythmic patterns of Arabic music, as well as his knowledge of ethnic musical history make him one of the most highly acclaimed performers and instructors of our day. He is the recipient of the Durfee Music Fellowship given to master musicians and teachers. This event is co-sponsored by Feminist Studies, the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, Bechtel International Center, the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, and African & Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures. Following the event A. J. Racy's CD's and Catherine Evans Latta's books will be available for sale and light refreshments will be served in the Campbell Courtyard.