The New York Institute for the Humanities (NYIH) at New York University will host “SHEHEREZADE: Fresh Vantages on the 1001 Nights & the Enchantments of Narrative,” an evening of reading and discussion featuring NPR commentator and novelist Andrei Codrescu and others on Dec. 7.

New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU to Host “SHEHEREZADE,” Featuring NPR’s Andrei Codrescu—Dec. 7
The New York Institute for the Humanities (NYIH) at New York University will host “SHEHEREZADE: Fresh Vantages on the 1001 Nights & the Enchantments of Narrative,” an evening of reading and discussion featuring NPR commentator and novelist Andrei Codrescu, cultural historian and critic Marina Warner, and Institute Director and writer Lawrence Weschler, on Wednesday, December 7, 7 p.m. at NYU’s Cantor Film Center.

The New York Institute for the Humanities (NYIH) at New York University will host “SHEHEREZADE: Fresh Vantages on the 1001 Nights & the Enchantments of Narrative,” an evening of reading and discussion featuring NPR commentator and novelist Andrei Codrescu, cultural historian and critic Marina Warner, and Institute Director and writer Lawrence Weschler, on Wednesday, December 7, 7 p.m. at NYU’s Cantor Film Center (36 East 8th Street [at University Place]).

The event is free and open to the public. Call 212.998.2101 for more information. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis. For a complete description of the event, go to: http://nyihumanities.org/event/sheherezade. Subways: N, R (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place).

The Tales of the Arabian Nights continue to hold people all over the world, and especially here in the West, in their continual thrall. The event’s three speakers will offer their own perspectives on and experiences with the work.

Codrescu, celebrated poet, novelist and essayist, is the author of Whatever Gets You Through the Night: A Story of Sheherezade and the Arabian Entertainments (Princeton University Press), a retelling of the Tales. Warner, an internationally acclaimed cultural historian, critic and novelist, currently based at the University of Essex, will be drawing for her part on her own latest volume (forthcoming from Harvard University Press), Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights, which focuses on the way the Tales of the 1001 Nights began filtering into European consciousness through various translations at the very dawn of the Enlightenment. Weschler, author of the recently released Uncanny Valley: Adventures in the Narrative (Counterpoint), will recount how his ailing grandfather, the Weimar-era California émigré modernist composer Ernst Toch, during the final years of his life, embarked on an all-consuming quest to sum up his own life by way of an opera portraying Sheherezade, the Tales’ heroine.

For all press inquiries, please contact the NYIH’s Stephanie Steiker at nyih.info@nyu.edu or 212.998.2101. For further information, a complete list of speakers, and schedule updates, go to: http://nyihumanities.org. 

EDITOR’S NOTE:
The New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University was established in 1976 for promoting the exchange of ideas between academics, professionals, politicians, diplomats, writers, journalists, musicians, painters, and other artists in New York City--and between all of them and the city.  It currently comprises over 220 fellows. Throughout the year, the NYIH organizes numerous public events, including conferences, symposia, readings, and performances.  For further information, please visit http://NYiHumanities.org or contact nyih.info@nyu.edu or 212.998.2101.

Press Contact

James Devitt
James Devitt
(212) 998-6808