Make Books Not War. Sarah BodmanIn March 2007 a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. 30 people were killed and over 100 injured. What made this particular event stand out was that Mutanabbi Street was the center of the Baghdad bookselling world and the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. It was named after 10th century Arab poet, Al-Mutanabbi.
To commemorate and protest this most violent form of censorship the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition was created. It was founded by San Francisco poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil and since April of 2007 they have been organizing events around the world to benefit Doctors Without Borders.
The goal of the project is to reach 130 broadsides, the approximate number of people killed and wounded in the attack, and to date 122 broadsides have been created. The deadline to contribute is November 30. A complete set of the broadsides will be donated to the Iraqi National Library.
More information at the Center for Fine Print Research.
Florida Atlantic University has digitized some of the early broadsides in the series.
Now get printing.