RAWI is a non-profit 501(c)(3) literary organization dedicated to supporting and disseminating creative writing and scholarly writing by Arab-Americans. Welcome to our new site! Please visit the members page, check out photos from our latest conference, and be in touch with us here.

Our next Arab-American Writers Conference will take place June 7-9, 2018, in Houston TX. We will be collaborating with the University of Houston’s Honors College and the Center for Creative Work. Please see details below.

RAWI’s Statement to President Castro of California State University, Fresno in Support of Professor Randa Jarrar

April 20, 2018

Dear President Castro,

We, the executive board, and past presidents and advisory board members of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI) are writing you about our concerns regarding recent events surrounding Professor Randa Jarrar, who serves as RAWI’s executive director.

As you know, Prof. Jarrar has endured hundreds of death threats, thousands of vile attacks, and a relentless public shaming because she expressed a personal opinion that others found disagreeable.

Since our founding more than twenty years ago, RAWI has always supported freedom of expression, for all writers—all people—regardless of their background or political affiliation, and we continue to do so. In this way, the organization is quintessentially American.

Randa Jarrar should be free to express herself without fear for her safety or welfare. This right is at the heart of academic freedom and it is also fundamentally American. We urge you to respect and uphold this most cherished of traditions.

We stand for free speech, even if it is not pleasing, and so we stand up for Randa Jarrar. We hope you, too, will do what is right and stand up for your faculty and let her know—and everyone who is watching—that under your leadership, you chose to uphold academic freedom and free speech and not bow down to fear and hatred.

Sincerely,

The RAWI Board of Directors

 

 

Arab-American Writers Conference Details (June 7-9, 2017, Houston, TX):

When: Thursday evening, June 7th through Saturday, June 9th