In a modern rendition of a Shakespeare classic, City College of New York poet and author Pamela Laskin presents “Ronit & Jamil,” a Palestinian/Israeli “Romeo and Juliet” in verse for teenagers. The book appears from HarperCollins on Feb. 21 with a dramatic reading at the City College Center for the Arts Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Critics hail Laskin’s work as “beautiful and lyrical,” delivering a fresh and captivating retelling of Romeo and Juliet that transports the star-crossed lovers to the modern day Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This is a book about building bridges and dismantling walls -- a perfect anecdote to the current ugliness and rampant Islamophobia our new administration in Washington has unleashed,” said Laskin.
On the reading at CCCA, she noted: “In the age of Trump, this is such an important staged production, since its focus is on how two divergent sides can not only get along, but learn to love one another.”
For more information or to RSVP, Call the CCCA box office at 212.650.6900 or click here.
“Ronit & Jamil” is the latest book by the Laskin, a lecturer in CCNY’s Division of Humanities and the Arts, and director of the college’s Poetry Outreach Center.
Her other publications include:
- “It’s All About Shoes, Women and Their Relationship to Shoes” (Plain View Press, 2015), an edited anthology;
- “Homer the Little Stray Cat” (Little Balloon Press, 2014), a children's book; and
- “The Bonsai Curator” (Cervena Barva Press, 2013), a poetry book.
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