Houston Lecture: Splendors of the Fatimid Court

Muslim American Artists Strive to Bridge a Chasm – NYTimes.com. When Wajahat Ali, a young Muslim American playwright from Fremont, needed to build an audience for his work, he produced his plays in cramped Pakistani restaurants in the East Bay and used Facebook to get the word out.  His play “The Domestic Crusaders” went on to open at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2005, and then moved to Off Broadway.   … Mr. Ali is one of a growing number of Bay Area artists who are reimagining one of the country’s most complicated compound identities: Muslim American.  At a time…

Seven Stories, and Loads of Ideas, in Brooklyn – NYTimes.com. Here a dozen ecological and technology entrepreneurs work in constant collaboration. Amanda Parkes, a co-founder of a biofuel start-up called Bodega Algae, also designs what she calls “parasitic energy costumes” that capture energy generated by the body in motion. So when a Parisian dance company commissioned costumes for a performance this winter, Ms. Parkes solicited the help of James Patten, an interactive designer, and Jessica Banks, a roboticist, who sit 15 feet away.

Bryonn Bain is a friend from college, and I'm working on a review of his book, The Prophet Returns. New Brooklyn Writers Join Old Hands at Fort Greene Park Lit Fest – WNYC Culture. Bryonn Bain, who is from Flatbush and spent five years teaching cultural literacy to teen inmates at Rikers Island, will also be reading from his book, The Prophet Returns, which will be released this weekend by Blackout brooklyn Press.  "You can't underestimate the power of the word, the power of stories," Bain said, who will also be performing with the hip-hop theater group Lyrics from Lockdown…