Our own Charles Bernstein posted a tribute to Adnan on Jacket2, hailing her as "a beacon of thought in a dirempt world." He continues, "In her writing I sense her hovering just beyond, in view but ungraspable, yet grounding me in ever-changing realizations. Luminous company, trusted guide, necessary source of immediate information, Adnan is a visionary of the meteoric and diasporic. Oscillating between the ecstatic and the unbearable, she finds home in the evasive emplacements of each moment."
PennSound's Etel Adnan author page is home to a modest archive of recordings that nevertheless give a sense of her diverse talents. That collection begins with Adnan's 2006 appearance on episode #118 of Leonard Schwartz's program, Cross-Cultural Poetics, titled "Forms of Violence." Via phone from Paris, she "reads from her book In the Heart of A Heart Of Another Country (City Lights), and meditates on her mother city of Beirut and American violence, inner and outer."
From 2010, we have a Serpentine Gallery reading showcasing The Arab Apocalypse and a 2012 reading commemorating the release of Homage to Etel Adnan (Post-Apollo), which was held at The Green Arcade Books Ideas Goods and co-sponsored by The Poetry Center and Small Press Traffic. Adnan returned to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London for a conversation with poet Robert Grenier a few weeks later. This chat between two hybrid artists was the inaugural event for the exhibition, "Etel Adnan: the Weight of the World."
Next we have a marvelous longform discussion with Jennifer Scappettone, recorded September 23–24, 2017, which has been segmented into individual tracks by theme, including "Home Life and School in Beirut," "Education in Philosophy and Beginnings in Painting," "English-Language Poetry and US Politics from the Vietnam War through Today," and "Cultural Identity, Multilingualism, and Translation." Finally, from December 2020, we have a reading and conversation with Bernstein hosted by the Brooklyn Rail’s New Social Environment, which also featured Sarah Riggs, Omar Berrada, and Susan Bee.
We're grateful to be able to share Adnan's work with our audience, and likewise send our thanks to those who've shared resources with us. You can listen to any of the aforementioned recordings by clicking here.
