Mizna

JOURNAL: Mizna: SWANA Lit + Art is an acclaimed biannual print publication with a history of connecting established and emerging authors with an international readership. In 2023, Mizna published the forty-forth and forty-fifth issues of the literary journal "Mizna: SWANA Literature + Art," featuring 50 contributors. In 2023, the journal won the prestigious Whiting Literary Magazine Prize and reached more than 4000 readers through subscriptions, sales, and library checkouts. In publication since 1999, "Mizna" remains a rare journal of Arab and Southwest Asian/North African literature. "Mizna" is a critical space for authors, both emerging and established, in which they have the creative freedom to explore themes and ideas that are real and relevant to them, outside of the cultural assumptions made by the broader American landscape. In 2023, Mizna also launched the online literary platform "Mizna Online." Featuring commissioned poetry, prose, criticism, reviews, and experimental multidisciplinary work, Mizna Online complements our biannual print publication with regular content reflecting on the urgent and current realities of the SWANA region and beyond. Since October 2023, Mizna Online has been focusing its efforts on publishing work in solidarity with Palestine and anti-Zionism. Recent pieces feature poetry and prose from Palestinian authors, including many who are currently experiencing the genocidal war in Gaza.

CLASS AND SPECIAL EVENTS Mizna continued to offer high quality, affordable Arabic language community education courses in 2023. Mizna also had a robust presence at the AWP 2023 conference in Seattle and the Palestine Writes conference in Philadelphia. We presented and copresented readings across the US, including the Seattle and Twin Cities journal launches and readings, and a reading in Los Angeles. In October 2023, we cohosted Mizna + RAWIfest, a biannual conference dedicated to supporting and disseminating creative and scholarly writing by Arab/SWANA individuals, in Minneapolis at the Loft Literary Center. This year's conference featured a slate of panels and events with over 60 writers, artists, and performers presenting their work.

FILM PROGRAMS Established in 2003, the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival debuts independent films from more than fifteen Arabic-speaking countries and their diasporas. In 2023, we presented our 17th annual Twin Cities Arab Film Festival with special screenings and programming across the Twin Cities. The weekend included a screening at the Bell Museum's Planetarium, post-screening discussions with actors and filmmakers, and an outdoor screening under the Third Avenue Bridge. This year's festival featured 35 films, over two-thirds of which were directed by women. The Mizna Film Series is a quarterly selection of programs marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. Our 2023 Mizna Film Series highlighted archival works and initiatives that document Palestine's struggle for liberation. The series presented rare and rediscovered Palestinian films as well as works produced by international collaborators and groups in solidarity with Palestine. Audiences had the opportunity to watch some of the programs both in person and online. Programs presented stories from the United Kingdom, Palestine, Iraq, the United States, Egypt, Japan, Yemen, Kenya, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Canada, Morocco, Sudan, France, Saudi Arabia, and Western Sahara.