A cultural evening hosting an American cultural delegation organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information was held at the Jeddah Literary Club in Al-Shati district on Sunday. The delegation consisted of poets, authors, novelists and writers who came to Jeddah as a part of their Middle East Reading and Lecture Tour. The evening was an opportunity for the speakers to read some of their works. Christopher Merrill, Director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, recited two of his poems, titled “A Boy Juggling a Soccer Ball” and “Because.” Patricia Hampl, Professor of English in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, read a short story titled “The Florist's Daughter.” Ron Carlson, Director of the creative writing program in fiction at the University of California in Irvine, read a satirical-comical piece titled “What we wanted to do.” Richard Kenney, who has authored four collections of poetry, read some of his short poems, including Pen, Line, Currency, Hydrology and Lachrymation. His work had earned him the Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poets Award. Michelle Latiolais is a novelist and member of the writing programs at the University of California, where she is also an associate professor of English. She is also the author of “Even Now,” a novel. All their recitals were translated to the audience during the evening. After the recitals, Dr. Sami Al-Marzogi, the director of the evening, asked the audience for comments on the pieces. Doctors and professors of Arabic and English literature from many universities around the Kingdom, such as King Saud University and Umm Al-Qura University, attended the evening. They commended the visit of the first American cultural delegation in decades, saying it's better to have this sort of delegation in the Kingdom than political ones. Both academics and members of the delegation hoped it would be the beginning of a better understanding between the two cultures. The delegation also visited the Saudi Gazette offices before the evening's event was held and met a number of editors and reporters. They discussed the difficulties that journalists face in this day and age, and gave advice on how to be a creative writer. __
