A Professional Association of Arab-American Writers

Al-RAWI means the "storyteller".

al-RAWI is also the organization that represents the best of literary talent from our Arab heritage in the 'west'.

If you are of Arab heritage and if you write seriously with the intent (and the dream) to publish, join us. al-RAWI, PO Box 620, Prince St. Station, NY NY 10012. The annual membership fee is $25.; we have a sliding scale to encourage students and others who cannot manage this. Members receive the 3x annual newsletter, the al-RAWI directory, and a network of warm, intense and talented co-professionals.

Al-RAWI was founded to bring our writers together into a professional circle. We include eminent poets like Etel Adnan, Naomi Shihab Nye and Larry E. Joseph, also writers and anthologists such as Salma Khadra Jayyusi, and translator Mansour Ajami, novelist and sociologist Halim Barakat, science writer Gary Paul Nabhan, film-makers Jocelyn Ajami, Anna Bazzi and Anissa Bouziane. To date we number 75 writers, from highly published to the aspiring. Most are published; most are poets, some are journalists and essayists. Many members are students.

In 1992, it was evident to anyone watching the literary scene that Arab-Americans were making a real drive to tell good stories, to become a bridge for the generations, to educate, and to speak the soul of our people.

Like many artists, we writers work independently, often along with another job. Many of us are professors of English in universities across the US. Poets and novelists hardly need an organization to help us write well. So al-RAWI was not founded as a publishing outlet or service. It's a support organization, with ideals too.

Barbara Nimri Aziz. (currently RAWI's director) and Leila Diab founded RAWI with these specific aims. "We seek to encourage our youth to write, to provide a professional network, to urge members to reach for excellence, to publish in mainstream, and to support sister and brother writers overseas as well as in the USA." If we can do more, we will be delighted. But these aims are to start.

al-RAWI is still working to expand its membership. This means identifying Arab writers across this country. At the same time, we want to serve our existing membership.

Our main vehicle of communication is a 3x annual newsletter, prepared by member and novelist, Ron David. The newsletter goes to all members. Librarians, teachers, editors and publishers and prospective members may obtain sample copies.

We receive many inquiries from organizations and Ph.D. students working on Arab-American literature or Arab women. Publishers seem to want to peek into the future and see what books are underway by our 'undiscovered talent'. There is a great deal of interest in women writers.

We are mainly concerned with writers in the US and Canada. By nature we represent an international voice, and a few members reside overseas. We are also now attracting visual artists who deal with the spoken word-- photographers, film-makers, script writers, graphic artist/writers.

At present we are not able to help all those sending inquiry letters. But we try and we welcome inquiries. We work as volunteers, all members; and funding is only through members fees.

al-RAWI is run by a board in formation and is in the process of incorporation. It is based in New York City where its director and office are located. We also have an advisory board in formation. Our president is Etel Adnan.

We encourage inquires by post. You may also e-mail us at wbai@pacifica.org Subject: attn B. Nimri Aziz (this is the office --Pacifica radio station in NY--of al-RAWI director)