Georgetown to host Baghdad author book reading

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) will host a lecture and book-reading session by international activist and author Manal Omar here Monday. The public event, starting tomorrow at 6pm, is being hosted in collaboration with Qatar National Library (QNL), a non-profit organization under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. QNL's Project Director Dr. Claudia Lux said, "In conjunction with Georgetown University, Qatar National Library is proud to bring an author and thinker of Manal Omar's calibre, prominence and relevance to speak with our community in Qatar." Barefoot in Baghdad, is a riveting story of hope and despair where the unsung freedom fighters are strong, vibrant and female. The event will be opened by GU-Q's School of Foreign Service Dean Gerd Nonneman said, "Books and newspaper headlines can tell us facts or give us a window through which to look at places and people. But hearing those words brought to life by the very author who wrote them, we get the rare chance to step through the window to the other side, so to speak, with the writer as our personal guide. We are delighted to be able to present this opportunity both to our Georgetown community and the broader Doha community." In the book Omar, who is Director of Iraq, North Africa and Iran programmes at the US Institute of Peace, chronicles her time spent as an aid worker in the turbulence of war-torn Iraq, and examines issues of identity, civil society, and women's rights that emerged from the struggle. She quickly finds herself drawn into the saga of a people determined to rise from the ashes of war and sanctions and rebuild their lives in the face of ongoing chaos.