News Releases

Author Discusses the Plight of the Kurds at USM

April 6, 2005

Christiane Bird, author of "A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan," will give a free public lecture at USM from 4-5:30 p.m., Thursday, April 14, on the 7th Floor of the Glickman Library, Forest Ave., Portland.

Bird's visit to USM is even more timely in the wake of Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader, being named the new president of Iraq this week.

Bird was born in New York City but spent three years of her early childhood in Tabriz, Iran, where her father worked as a medical doctor. She is the author of "Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran" which was named one of the best books of 2001 and the best travel book of 2001 by barnsandnoble.com.

The title of her book on the Kurds comes from a line in an old Kurdish poem, "A thousand sighs, a thousand tears, a thousand revolts, a thousand hopes." Bird traveled among the Kurds of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, and her book sheds light on one of the world's oldest but least-known cultures.Ê

Bird's appearance at USM is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Philosophy Department, Multicultural Student Affairs, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and Women's Studies.

For more information about the lecture, please call 780-4006.

>more news releases