Comedians to Kick Off New PEN America Series for Muslim Voices
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLERAUG
The New York Times
Where Khizr Khan led with his impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention, a group of Muslim comedians, writers and other cultural figures will now follow, as part of a two-year series organized by PEN America aimed at broadening what PEN calls the “narrow representations” of America’s three million Muslims.
The series, called “The M Word,” will kick off on Sept. 21 at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan with “Muslim Comedians on the Right to Joke,” an evening featuring, among others Hasan Minhaj of “The Daily Show”; Mo Amer of the comedy troupe Allah Made Me Funny; and Negin Farsad, a director (with Dean Obeidallah) of the documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” and the author of the book “How to Make White People Laugh.” The series will feature two events a year, each dedicated to a different genre of writing, including script-writing, fiction and punditry.
With Mr. Khan’s speech, “a Muslim-American father took center stage in American political and cultural discourse,” Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of PEN America, said in a statement. “Through this series PEN America hopes to deepen and amplify an important dialogue.”
Future events will take place in New York, Boston and Washington. Advisers on the project include the best-selling author Reza Aslan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, the novelist Zia Haider Rahman and Sana Amanat, a creator of the rebooted comic book series Ms. Marvel, featuring the character Kamala Khan.
Source: www.nytimes.com