Mizna

Mizna is a Minneapolis based arts and cultural organization. They publish the only journal of Arab American literature in the United States, and present cultural events to the community. Mizna has come a long way since 1999 when it published the first volume of their journal on Arab American literature. Besides publishing their award-winning journal, Mizna has presented some of the most talented Arab American artists in the visual arts, on stage, in music, and in film. Mizna journal continues to be the only journal of Arab American literature in the United States, and is currently in libraries, museums, and on coffee tables throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. It has been the focus of stories in many media outlets, including the Utne Reader, National Public Radio, the Lebanese Daily Star, Bahrain Today, and Qantara-the publication of the Institut du Monde Arabe. In 2003, Mizna received a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Small Presses for a piece which first appeared in their journal. In addition to the journal, they have presented the annual Arab Film festival in Minnesota (the only such festival in the Upper Midwest), 9 public arts events featuring over 50 emerging writers, musicians, dancers, and visual artists, the first performance of an Arab American play in the Twin Cities with fifteen Arab cast members, and such amazing international talent as Simon Shaheen, Suheir Hammad, Hakim Belabbes, Nadia El Fani, Jack Shaheen, Raed Al Helou, Mai Masri, Iron Sheik, Elias Khoury and others. An important outcome of their cultural and artistic work is the exposure of American audiences to the breadth and depth of the current, vital culture of the Middle East and of Arabs in America. This serves to counter the daily stereotypes of Arabs that bombard Americans on a daily basis.