Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here - a gathering of poets speaking to state and religious violence

Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here - a gathering of poets speaking to state and religious violence

On March 7, 2007. a car bomb exploded and destroyed blocks of Baghdad's Al-Mutanabbi Street, named for the 16th century poet and known for centuries as the street of nboksellers. Scores were killed and injured, businesses were wrecked, thousands upon thousands of books were torn to shreds, burned and turned to dust. Each year, poets, essayists, novelists and artists gather in cafes, galleries and shops to express their solidarity with those attacked, maimed and killed for their commitment to cultural expression that flies in the face of autocratic state and religious oppression. Beau Beausoleil, poet and bookseller, hosts.