In partnership with World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth
Lawrence Wright is a top-notch journalist who has been writing since the Civil Rights era, covering topics as varied as the roots of terrorism in the Middle East and the Church of Scientology.
He is a staff writer for the New Yorker, a playwright (My Trip to Al-Qaeda premiered at the DMA and became a documentary film on HBO), a screenwriter (The Siege starring Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington), and the author of eight acclaimed books of nonfiction and one novel. Add to that, he is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and keyboard player for the Austin-based blues collective WhoDo.
His Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Looming Tower, established him as a leading authority writing about terrorism in the Middle East. Wright is one of the executive producers of a television series for Hulu based on the book; it stars Jeff Daniels and debuts in October.
This event celebrates the paperback release of The Terror Years, a collection of ten powerful essays that offer an examination of the roots of contemporary Middle Eastern terrorism, a study of how it has grown and metastasized, and a cautionary tale about where terrorism might take us yet. Wright paints a portrait of “the man behind bin Laden” and the tumultuous Egypt he helped spawn, shares insights into a disintegrating Syria and the never-ending conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians, and much more.
“Wright [weaves] his research . . . into a fine tapestry of personal experience and unobtrusive reflection.” —The New York Times Book Review
5:00–7:30 p.m.: Enjoy a Middle Eastern dinner menu in the DMA Cafe and explore the Keir Collection of Islamic Art, one of the world's most important private collections of Islamic Art, on long-term loan to the DMA.
Dinner menu:
The DMA Cafe will serve a Middle Eastern themed dinner beginning at 5:00 p.m. Arts & Letters Live ticket holders can enjoy all three courses for $17 with $4 wine or draught beer. The à la carte menu includes:
- Fattoush salad with toasted pita, mixed greens, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, baby radishes, red onion, fresh mint, fresh parsley, crumbled feta, and extra virgin olive oil $6.50
- Persian tas kebab with Lebanese rice OR Braised chicken, quince, eggplant, tomato, new potatoes, ginger, and dates $12.00
- Ghoraibi with Turkish tea crema OR Butter almond cookies with chilled Turkish tea crema $4.00