Vision & Verse: A Celebration of Arab Heritage

Join us for a two-day celebration (April 26 - 27, 2025) honoring the rich traditions and voices of the Arab diaspora. Experience the power of poetry, storytelling, and fashion as we showcase both traditional and contemporary works. Both events will feature stunning traditional Arabic clothing displays and delicious refreshments. We invite you to celebrate, reflect, and connect with the vibrant literary and cultural traditions of the Arab world.

Immerse yourself in poetry performed in both Arabic and English by acclaimed Iraqi poet Hasan Al-Nassar, whose work powerfully reflects on war, exile, and resilience—particularly the struggles of war-widowed women. Haidar Mazen, a local educator, translator, and video journalist, will provide English translations.

Thank you to the Friends and Foundation of the Arlington Public Library for their generous support of our programming.

Hasan Al-Nassar: Hassan Al-Al-Nassar is an Iraqi poet whose works explore themes of war, exile, and resilience, with a particular focus on the struggles of war-widowed women. His poetry has been widely published in Arabic literary magazines, and his collection, Widows' Resurrection, received the prestigious Abdul Wahhab Poetry Prize in 1999.

Haidar Mazen: Haider Mazen is an academic educator, translator, and video journalist. He currently teaches research, English, and literature at an early college high school in Arlington. Over the past 10 years, he has worked with various nonprofit organizations to translate books from Arabic to English and English to Arabic. He holds a Master’s in Education and a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.