Space, Fiction and Growing Up in ‘Postwar’ Lebanon w/ Naji Bakhti (E84)

This is a conversation with Naji Bakhti, author of the novel Between Beirut and the Moon (2020), published by Influx Press. He is also Project Manager at SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom at the Samir Kassir Foundation.Topics Discussed:Growing up in a ‘postwar’ context, LebanonWriting in English and the distance afforded to us when doing soThinking about Arabic and creativityGenesis of Between Beirut and the MoonWriting the local, writing the globalThe Arab world and the impossibility of Space explorationBillionaires are ruining space in addition to planet EarthJoking about sectarianism in Lebanon (and also Balkans, Iraq etc)West Beirut (1998 film) and its impact, watching it (in Joey’s case) the day Hariri was assassinated in 2005Writing about Beirut as a characterHow do we think about fiction when reality is so overwhelming?Inheriting the silences from one’s parents (including postmemory)Friendships versus sectarian politicsRecommended BooksGuapa by Saleem HaddadDe Niro’s Game by Rawi HagePersepolis by Marjie SatrapiPaddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy DoyleMusic by Tarabeat.