[Background image above depicts an Israeli strike on the Islamic University of Gaza on December 2, 2023, killing physics professor physics professor Sufyan Tayeh. Photo retrieved from the Andolu Agency.]

**UPDATE The link to take immediate action has been corrected at the bottom of this caption **

On September 18, 2025, the University of Minnesota’s Office of the Vice Provost and the Senate Faculty Consultative Committee will host PEN America to lead a symposium called A Campus for All: Campus Free Speech, Academic Freedom, and the Current Challenges to Higher Education. The decision to hold such a forum led by PEN America, which has a long track record of suppressing Palestinian voices and critiques of the state of Israel, is hypocritical. It disregards the coalitional pressure campaign led by Writers Against the War on Gaza to hold PEN American accountable for its actions, which include failing to meaningfully address Israel’s genocide on Gaza, normalizing Israel’s colonization of Palestine, suppressing Palestinian voices, promoting Islamophobia, and clamping down on the free speech of its own staff members. Thanks to the campaign, the organization has suffered damage recently, with its major Jean Stein award having to be canceled two years in a row because the nominated authors have withdrawn their books from consideration. The university’s invitation of PEN America while it bypasses the many qualified experts on free speech, academic freedom signals that the university is not actually interested in protecting free speech on campus.

Join the campaign to cancel this event, led by Educators for Justice in Palestine, of which Mizna is a member. The full email text is below. Please revise as you see fit.

** Follow this link to send an email to the Vice Provost, Senate Faculty Consultative Committee, the university’s president, and PEN America. If your browser does not support the Mailto app, send the message to the following addresses: abrah042@umn.edu, trj@umn.edu, phleo@umn.edu, mbodie@umn.edu, borrello@umn.edu, brown013@umn.edu, jenng@morris.umn.edu, hadi0001@umn.edu, rkrebs@umn.edu, kmetzger@r.umn.edu, pahwa007@umn.edu, redish@umn.edu, subree@umn.edu, vpfaa@umn.edu, provost@umn.edu, upres@umn.edu, info@pen.org, umnejp@gmail.com

The full email text is below. Please revise as you see fit.

Dear Office of the Vice Provost and Senate Faculty Consultative Committee (FCC):

Given PEN America’s well-known track record of reluctance to call out the ongoing genocide in Gaza and to fully support Palestinian writers and artists, I am surprised to see the FCC and Vice Provost’s office sponsor PEN to host an event on academic freedom and free expression. 

PEN currently has little to no credibility with many writers, precisely for its woefully insufficient response to the ongoing genocide and scholasticide Israel is committing in Gaza. Following PEN’s violent ejection of Palestinian-American writer Randa Jarrar from an event in 2024, thousands expressed criticism of PEN and demanded it take steps to stand for Palestinians. Numerous writers, including many affiliated with the University of Minnesota, have participated in what is a widespread and longstanding boycott, still ongoing, of PEN events, awards, and other opportunities. Nor is PEN considered an expert or standards body when it comes to the concept of academic freedom.

PEN America had no qualms condemning Russia’s assault on Ukraine, referring to the ongoing conflict there as “an assault on free expression and human rights, an effort to destroy Ukrainian culture, and poses an imminent threat to the country’s writers, artists, and journalists.” Its reluctance to forthrightly call out these same injustices executed on a genocidal scale in Gaza suggests the organization is tainted with structural racism and Islamophobia.

And yet, UMN welcomes PEN America with open arms, suggesting yet again that the administration echoes PEN’s callous indifference to the University community’s Palestinian, SWANA, and Muslim members and their allies.

It’s especially shocking that this event is organized as a University response to the improper unhiring of Raz Segal, a well-known expert in genocide studies. Violating the normal hiring process and faculty vetting in departments and colleges, the President’s Office barred Segal’s hire as Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies over political objections to Segal’s recognition that Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza is genocidal. His stance is not a minority or even, at this point, a controversial scholarly position—for example, it is shared by the International Association of Genocide Studies. 

It is concering that members of FCC and the Provost’s office, themselves academics, dismiss concerns raised by multiple scholars and scholarly associations about the politically-motivated unhiring of a genocide studies expert, and attempt to rectify a clear violation of academic freedom and shared governance by organizing an “academic freedom forum” led by an organization criticized by its own membership for silence on genocide.

I ask that you cancel this event and instead allow real conversations about academic freedom and the freedom to speak about Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The post Join the Call to Cancel PEN America at University of Minnesota appeared first on Mizna.

Mizna welcomes Moheb Soliman, who will begin as Executive Editor and Literary Programs, taking over from George Abraham’s distinguished period at the helm of the Mizna journal. Abraham will continue on in a new role as Editor at Large and Editor of Mizna Online, as they settle into their new faculty position as Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College’s English Department. “Over the past year, Mizna has played the critical role of providing space for our communities to gather in collective grief, rage, and solidarity. This staffing expansion comes as Mizna continues to meet an urgent moment for our communities in and from Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan and beyond; publishing, screening, promoting, and preserving Arab & SWANA voices through new and existing programs,” says Mizna’s Deputy Director Ellina Kevorkian.

Soliman first joined the staff of Mizna more than ten years ago as a transplant from Montreal, moving to Minnesota, where Mizna is rooted, to work as Community Liaison and eventually becoming Program Director, working closely with director Lana Salah Barkawi. For five years, he became familiar with local and national contemporary Arab/SWANA creative spheres, and led Mizna into new interdisciplinary art and literary territories. During this time, Soliman developed his own practice as a poet and performance artist, creating work at the intersection of identity, modernity, nature, and otherness. “I am thrilled to be back with the organization, colleagues, and community that so deeply shaped me. I can’t wait to continue the work of amplifying and expanding the boundaries of our creative expression and critical consciousness,” says Soliman.

In 2018, Soliman left Minneapolis for the multi-year Tulsa Artist Fellowship and eventually returned for a BIPOC-centric fellowship with Milkweed Editions. There, he focused on development and acquisition for the Seedbank series, which holds books from across the globe and across time that deal with human relationships to environment, place, and the non-human living world. He was also part of the Milkweed editorial team, guiding diverse poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction manuscripts through the publication process to books. Both of these recent immersions, in addition to years of project management and programming work with an array of Twin Cities arts organizations and national literary institutions, make his return to Mizna in this new capacity a fitting, exciting, and happy one. 

Moheb Soliman attended Eugene Lang at the New School for Social Research and the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. His debut poetry book HOMES was published by Coffee House Press. He lives in Northeast Minneapolis with his partner, writer Kathryn Savage. 

George Abraham is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, and performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist.  As Executive Editor of Mizna, Abraham has spearheaded the production process of three print journals, Myth and Memory, Cinema, and Catastrophe, and has helped launch and edit our new digital publication, Mizna Online. On their new position, Abraham commented, “I am excited to continue visioning and producing an online publication which complements our biannual print publication with regular content reflecting on the urgent and current realities of the SWANA region and beyond. In a moment where so many authors and artists are being censored for expressing their solidarity with Palestine, Mizna Online has become a vital space. As we continue to stand against the genocide in Gaza, we have focused much of our efforts this past year on publishing work in solidarity with Palestine. Forthcoming work will continue to critically engage with Palestine and Sudan as well as recent developments in Syria and beyond. We also look forward to expanding our work in literary and cultural criticism, with projects such as Hazem Fahmy’s Uncrafted column, and other urgent projects addressing gaps in the literary landscape.”

The post Moheb Soliman Rejoins Mizna Staff as Executive Editor and Literary Programs Director appeared first on Mizna.

Take a look at what Mizna achieved in 2023.

The post 2023 Annual Report appeared first on Mizna.

May 4, 2024

Read our follow-up statement from May 8, 2024 below.

We condemn Kansas City Art Institute’s (KCAI) unilateral cancellation of Mizna’s event, “Writers for Palestine,” a literary reading originally scheduled to be held at KCAI on February 7, 2024 as an independent event during, but unaffiliated with, the 2024 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference in Kansas City.

“Writers for Palestine” was organized to center Palestinian voices at a moment when Palestinians are being exterminated. We see it as imperative to provide spaces for global solidarity when, nationwide, institutions systematically censor both Palestinians and advocacy for Palestinian liberation. Often, censorship takes the form of “security concerns,” weaponizing the language of safety against vulnerable marginalized communities. On February 2, 2024, two business days before the “Writers for Palestine” event, KCAI rescinded its hosting agreement due to security concerns. 

This cancellation uses a marginalized community’s need to have open, honest dialogue about safety as a tool to erase marginalized voices. KCAI had received more than two weeks’ notice of the event, but staff failed to bring forward any concerns or any viable options for how to ensure a safe event, as part of any collaborative conversations. This demonstrates, at best, ignorance of how to engage with marginalized communities about their lived realities and, at worst, outright discrimination. 

Southwest Asian and North African writers are not alone in living in the United States as a community under attack. Every institution—and especially an institution that prides itself on its ability to “address the critical issues of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Sustainability across all facets of the Institution”—must be prepared to discuss how to protect Black and Brown community members. Otherwise, that institution is complicit in exclusion, censorship, and silencing of marginalized voices.

— 

Timeline of events

On January 11, 2024, Mizna contacted KCAI event staff to inquire about potential venues for  “Writers for Palestine.” Without first-hand knowledge of local dialogue about Palestine, we raised the question of what would be necessary to ensure the safety of our artists, audience, and the surrounding community in the hypothetical case of anti-Palestinian threats. We performed further due diligence by contacting local organizations with direct experience hosting Palestinian events. Having learned that Palestinian speakers have not typically received negative backlash in the city, Mizna made the decision that KCAI campus security would sufficiently and ethically ensure safety of all involved parties. At each stage of this important dialogue, we collaborated with the KCAI staff event member assigned to us as an institutional representative. On January 31, 2024, having received satisfactory answers to and agreements regarding all logistical matters and concerns, Mizna sent the signed venue-agreement contract back to KCAI and initiated payment for rental fees. 

However, on February 2, 2024, Mizna received an email from Jane Preuss, Executive Vice President, General Counsel of KCAI, unilaterally canceling the event, citing concerns raised “about safety during the Event due to individuals who might engage in violent behavior.” As per Preuss, these “safety concerns” necessitated further, “appropriate security,” for which the venue could not arrange within the necessary timeframe. This is despite the fact that initial inquiry for the event, including security questions, had been raised in mid-January of the same year. KCAI also asserted that Mizna had not paid for the space ten days prior to the event (by January 29), a stipulation of the KCAI rental agreement. 

Upon receipt of this email, a Mizna staff member spoke to Preuss, assuring Preuss that payment had been initiated and that KCAI event staff had not described January 29 as a firm deadline. In that phone conversation, the Mizna staff member explained that, after careful consideration, “Writers for Palestine” Mizna organizers decided that anti-Palestinian harm from the external community did not pose a threat, prompting Mizna to utilize KCAI’s on-campus security as well as the security volunteers, trained in de-escalation, to ensure safety for the event participants and the larger KCAI community. Preuss responded that, nonetheless, the (hypothetical) threat of violence at the event necessitated armed security in the form of off-duty police, which was not an option given the event’s upcoming date and that no available path existed for holding the event at KCAI.

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May 8, 2024—On KCAI’s Response to Mizna’s May 4 Statement

On Tuesday, May 7, the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) responded to Mizna’s public account of the institute’s silencing of Palestinian voices via a private email to alumni and students. Within that email, KCAI misconstrues the events surrounding their decision to retract a venue agreement for Mizna’s “Writers for Palestine” event, which was to be held at KCAI on February 7. In responding privately to a public account, KCAI excludes those it has directly harmed. This choice indicates an organization that wishes to control the narrative rather than one that wants to make amends and take accountability.

In its email, KCAI told students that in response to Mizna’s questions about the level of security necessary to ensure safety at its event, KCAI “provided Mizna with an alternative security solution.” The statement is patently false. Before Mizna signed the event agreement, KCAI never raised any question about security. During the conversation in which Jane Preuss, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, retracted the agreement on the basis of “security concerns,” Preuss communicated that no viable options or solutions existed for holding the event.

KCAI stated in its email to students that the organization is “always willing to engage with community partners to explore safe ways for groups to have important conversations about sensitive global issues.” According to the email “KCAI is dedicated to ensuring our campus remains an inclusive setting for robust artistic expression and cultural dialogue.” Yet, as of today, KCAI continues to refuse to engage directly with those marginalized people it has harmed or to publicly acknowledge that harm. 
Alumni and students have joined Mizna in condemning the cancellation of “Writers for Palestine” and demanding a public apology. We stand in solidarity with their protest actions, including a public protest to be held today, May 8. They have written a public petition, which can be found at bit.ly/kcai-open-letter. We urge KCAI to learn the difference between meaningful atonement and performative self-protectionism. We also urge KCAI to understand the compounded harm, grief, and labor it is inflicting by withholding accountability at a critical global moment when Rafah is under siege.

The post On Kansas City Art Institute’s Cancellation of Mizna’s “Writers for Palestine” appeared first on Mizna.

As Mizna is marking its twenty-fifth anniversary year, our small team is reflecting on our history of presenting, connecting, and sustaining Arab and SWANA creatives. For a quarter of a century, Mizna has provided a nurturing and unburdened space for artists, filmmakers, and writers to create and share their critical work with our communities. From the start, our work has been politically engaged, and we have always galvanized artists in proposing liberatory ideas. 

In 2024, we are approaching our programming in relation to both the past and future. Our film series centers on the theme of archiving and restoring films by SWANA women, while an upcoming issue of our journal explores notions of SWANA futurity. Our recently launched digital publishing platform Mizna Online hosts newly commissioned works as well as select works from the Mizna print journal archive.

In thinking about the convergence of past and future, we also turn to our name. In Arabic, the word mizna means a rain-bearing cloud. Clouds carry an inherent dichotomy, signifying both what is seen and what is obscured from view. Stretching across the horizon, they show us the present and what lies beyond it. Clouds shelter us from the sun’s heat and hold the anticipation of renewal that comes with rain. A rain-bearing cloud, ultimately, promises us relief. As the same tiny droplets of moisture travel through the water cycle since the inception of the earth, we are reminded that clouds themselves are ever-changing archives. 

Embodying this transformative energy as we celebrate our 25th anniversary year, Mizna aims to curate programming that adapts and actionably responds not only to our community’s needs but also to the state of the world. We strive to create space for collective gathering, communal relief, and resilience. Join us on this mission, this year and beyond.

The post Mizna: 25 Years appeared first on Mizna.