Hi,

So i went to this Mahmoud Darwish book signing thing.. its the first time i go to such an event because i’m new to amman… and i have to say, as cool as it was to see the guy, and hear him read some poetry, Amman has some serious organizational problems.

For someone as famous as this guy, why would they squish his fans in a very tiny al-balad theatre, where half of the people who showed up couldn’t actually get into the theater cuz there was no space left? I was 45 mins early and managed to get a seat into the place, but if you came at around 6 pm, a full half hour before the event, then you had to stand outside in the MOB of people… there were so many people standing outside trying to get to see the guy and it looked like a protest from afar… so what i want to basically complain about is why they don’t realize to get a bigger venue for someone as popular as Darwish or find a way to accommodate everyone who comes in, either by holding the session in two waves or something?

its frustrating that we can’t seem to figure out these small logistical things here…

:)

Maha I HEAR YOU !!
i went with a friend of mine to this “Book thing” too , And boy .. oh boy i ended up regretting it , I am like a huge fan of Darweesh’s work but honestly not only that i had to pay 4 jd’s for the taxi cuz well , No body knows where the “Balad” theater is to begin with and when i got there at like 7 , the books were already sold OUT ! , I felt guilty for dragging my friend with me .. Because he was sick , And i had to stand in a crowd of like 50-70 people for 2 hours just to get thru the main gate , And where i actually got in to the theater entrance i noticed that there were another queue waiting to get there book signed! . Well i figured I’ll stick around .. And i did , I had had bought earlier his older book ” In the presence of absence ” And i am glad he got to sign it and i also got a chance to thank him . But really was it worth all this ? , I Could’ve got the book from cozmo or prime mega store or sth .. Well anyhow when we got out i talked to one of the supervising girls and asked her : WHY THEY DID THIS !@!@#$!@ , She said Darweesh wanted it to be open for public or in other words ” Free of Charge” , And let’s face it .. i would’ve gladly paid 2-5 jd’s to get a better and well aired theater .

Agreed Nix0! and while i commend Darwish for wanting it to be open and free of charge in a very public place, they still could have gotten ANOTHER bigger place for free, right? or done something to accommodate all the people, again by holding two sessions, or at least getting enough books! Do the organizers (or Darwish) really think that only 50 people in all of Jordan like him?

He surely can’t be that modest about his fame… :)

Seriously , Darweesh must’ve had a complete misconception about the target audience. I am sure there’s thousands of people that enjoy his works in Jordan , Looking at the fact that almost 350-400 person came to the book signing … And i have no clue how they found the “Balad” theater, It’s practically in the middle of nowhere. Now just imagine the audience in a much more convenient place ! . Bigger audience = More profit + Happy and satisfied readers .
Well , Now that Darweesh is actually releasing a book every 2 years .. We’ll have to wait till 2010 to find out what they’re planning and i am not sure if they’re gonna do anything about it .

BTW : I Forgot to say , My Uncle is actually the graphic designer that worked on the promotional posters for the book signing evet , As he is one of Darweesh’s biggest fans with pictures of him hangin in the walls of his house i think he was just as mad as i am.