As part of the 85th edition of this literary event, which will be held from May 29 to June 14 in Madrid’s Retiro Park, Casa Árabe is organizing two book presentations, which will take place at the organization’s headquarters in Madrid (Calle Alcalá, 62). Free admission until capacity is reached.
Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 p.m.
Presentation of “Report on the Theft” and “Children of the Arabian Nights,” by Abdul Hadi Sadoun
The Iraqi writer presents a new work that delves into the mysteries of the human soul and the hidden layers of our personal memory: “Report on the Theft.” In this novel, he invites us on an introspective journey into the recent past, where the protagonist—a man who believes he lives a peaceful and uneventful life—confronts, in the course of a single day, a completely different reality. His seemingly simple world reveals itself as a locked box filled with secrets, threats, and unsettling revelations.
Furthermore, in “Children of the Arabian Nights,” the author has compiled an anthology of stories from 1980 to the present, offering not only a literary overview but also a social portrait of the country. The 40 texts in the anthology demonstrate how writing becomes resistance, active memory, and an act of symbolic reconstruction in the face of devastation.
This event is part of Casa Árabe’s Country Focus: Iraq program.
Participants: Abdul Hadi Sadoun, Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio, Pilar Gómez Rodríguez, and Luis Rafael Hernández.
Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 p.m.
Presentation of the work of Latifa Labsir. In collaboration with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
Latifa Labsir is a Moroccan writer (Casablanca, 1965). She is a professor of Modern Literature at Hassan II University in Casablanca. She has published several collections of short stories and was the presenter of the program “Salón Cultural,” broadcast in collaboration between Deutsche Welle and Moroccan television. Labsir has published numerous articles in Moroccan and Middle Eastern magazines, and since 2008 has written monthly columns and articles on literature for the Moroccan women’s magazine “Mujeres de Marruecos” (Women of Morocco). For many years, she has sponsored and continues to lead creative writing workshops at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Casablanca and at various institutions and associations in Morocco.
The event is part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Casa Árabe and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
Participants: Latifa Labsir, Antonio Martínez Castro, and Karim Hauser.
