The Beauty of Light: An Interview

About Etel AdnanLaure Adler

Etel Adnan was born in Beirut Lebanon in 1925. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne U.C. Berkeley and at Harvard and taught at Dominican College in San Rafael California from 19581972. In solidarity with the Algerian War of Independence (19541962) Adnan began to resist the political implications of writing in French and became a painter. Then through her participation in the movement against the Vietnam War (19591975) she began to write poetry and became in her words an American poet. In 1972 she returned to Beirut and worked as cultural editor for two daily newspapersfirst for Al Safa then for LOrient le Jour. Her novel Sitt Marie-Rose published in Paris in 1977 won the France-Pays Arabes award and has been translated into more than ten languages. In 1977 Adnan re-established herself in California making Sausalito her home with frequent stays in Paris. Adnan is the author of more than a dozen books in English including Journey to Mount Tamalpais (1986) The Arab Apocalypse (1989) In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country (2005) and Sea and Fog (2012) winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry and the California Book Award for Poetry. Her book Time translated by Sarah Riggs received the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2020. In 2014 she was awarded one of Frances highest cultural honors: lOrdre de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. Her paintings have been widely exhibited including Documenta 13 the 2014 Whitney Biennial CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts The New Museum and Museum der Moderne Salzburg. In 2021 the Guggenheim Museum in New York presented an exhibition of her work. She died in November 2021. Laure Adler was born in 1950. She has written several books on the history of women and a prizewinning biography of Marguerite Duras. She has worked in publishing and as the Director of the France Cultur radio station. She now works as a journalist and broadcaster. Ethan Mitchell (b.1977) is an editor and translator living in Berkeley CA. Author residence: Paris France