Anniversary of Al-Mutanabbi Street

Janet Bradley Under One Moon 2012

Margaret Cooter, Reading Rooms for Al-Mutanabbi Street, 2012

To  mark  anniversary of the bombing of Al- Mutanabbi Street a poetry reading will take place at the Iraqi Centre, London. A selection of  artists books will also be on show.
 
The Guardian Newspaper has just published a thoughtful and supportive article about the John Rylands Exhibit, and the project in general.

the full article can be found at
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/mar/05/iraq-libraries

The exhibition An Inventory of al-Mutanbbi Street - Building with Books, is at Manchester until 29 July,  Books will continue to be added  until eventually  260 artists books will be  on show. It will then move on to San Francisco and New York later in the year, then to Swizterland, Canada, Eygpt, and eventually Baghdad.

Sarah Bodman told Martin Wainright (Guardian) "one set wll go to the national library in Baghdad within the next few years but we have no idea when the international tour by the others will finish. Probably never. Because this attack, part of a long history of attacking the printed word, was an attack on us all" 

A large selection of books can be viewed at www,bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/mainmut12/gallery3.htm

Gwen Simpson Smell the Coffee

Karen Apps  A Nation will fall into ruin if its people do not read books. 2012

Chris Ruston  Pages of Time. 2012