18 April 2016 Dear Edward, In January, I had the distinct honor of meeting Adonis, the Syrian poet who is perhaps the preeminent public intellectual in the Arab world. He is an innovator of the prose poem in Arabic, a literary scholar and translator, an ardent secularist, and a lightning rod. Some background: Born Ali […]
Update from Puerto Chiapas
We just crossed the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec: the southernmost gulf in Pacific Mexico, where winds funnel out of the Caribbean, howling down across land to gobble up sailboats in the Pacific with 20-30′ waves. We grabbed our weather window and raced Prism on a double overnight to Puerto Chiapas. A great adventure and test […]
Israel’s Secret Weapon Against Terror
The Daily Beast – In his latest article, past ICWA Fellow Neri Zilber examines an important and often overlooked factor that is contributing to the decline in violence in the West Bank, the work of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces. The PASF cooperates with the Israel Defense Forces to contain Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been and continues to […]
The Bonjour Effect
The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed is the latest book on French language and culture from past ICWA Fellows Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau. The Bonjour Effect explores and examines the art of French conversation and explains the way that the French talk about themselves, the world, and everything in between. […]
Update from Zihuatanejo
We are about to depart from Zihuatanejo. We have spent the past two days exploring and reprovisioning here. The town is unlike any we have seen yet, it somehow has the humm of a busy city and the quaintness and relaxed vibe of a coastal town. The bay itself is beautiful; steep, jungle-clad hills (mostly […]
“Now the Writing Starts”: An Interview with Adonis
In a new article on NYR Daily, ICWA Fellow Jonathan Guyer interviews Syrian poet Adonis, inventor of the Arabic prose poem and important literary figure. At 86, the Syrian luminary is a shrewd commentator on current affairs and an audacious anti-religious crusader who has come under criticism for his views on the Syrian civil war. This […]
Introducing Miss Woubi, Ivory Coast’s Unlikely Cross-dressing Pageant
The Guardian – In a new article, ICWA Fellow Robbie Corey-Boulet shares the story of Ivory Coast’s Miss Woubi pageant. According to Corey-Boulet “the event, first held in 2009, takes its name from an Ivorian slang word referring to the so-called “effeminate” partner in a relationship between two men – the one who, as Ivorians put […]
In Turbulent Times, One Source Keeps Brazil Laughing
Forbes – Past ICWA Fellow Shannon Sims reports on Sensacionalista, a Brazilian satirical paper that could be compared to The Onion. According to Sims, the political and economic situation in Brazil is tough and “as the political scandals multiply and surpass anything seen in a House of Cards script, Brazilians are sharing Sensacionalista’s fake news with gusto, as […]
Chi-Chi Zhang Newsletters
Fellowship Years: 2013-2015 Topic: China’s next generation and its role in the country’s political, economic and social development Fellowship Area: China […]
The Mysterious Case Of The Shrinking Brazilian Easter Egg
Forbes – In her latest article, past Fellow Shannon Sims examines Brazil’s incredibly popular chocolate Easter eggs in a new context; economics. A recent economic crash has caused the value of one Brazilian real to shrink from 50 U.S. cents to 25 cents and in conjunction the average size of a Brazilian chocolate Easter egg has shrunk as well. To […]