Nov. 7 (Mon), 7:30 pm—Levantine's author series presents author and humorist Firoozeh Dumas

Author of Funny in Farsi, A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, Firoozeh Dumas is the first American writer of Middle Eastern heritage ever to be nominated for the James Thurber Prize for American Humor. She is hot in the running against TV host Jon Stewart—the awards are announced Nov. 14, 2005 at New York's Algonquin Hotel. But first, Ms. Dumas returns to Los Angeles to perform and tell stories. Find out what's funny, and not so funny, about bicultural family life in the United States...

More about Firoozeh Dumas: Born in Abadan, Iran, she moved with her family to Whittier, California at the age of seven. After a two-year stay, she and her family moved back to Iran and lived in Ahvaz and Tehran. Two years later, they moved back to Whittier, then to Newport Beach. Firoozeh then attended UC Berkeley where she met and married a Frenchman.

Firoozeh grew up listening to her father, a former Fulbright Scholar, recount the many colorful stories of his life. In 2001, with no prior writing experience, Firoozeh decided to write her stories as a gift for her two children. Random House published these stories in 2003. Funny in Farsi was on the SF Chronicle and LA Times bestseller lists and was a finalist for the PEN/USA award in 2004 and a finalist in 2005 for an Audie Award for best audio book (she lost to Bob Dylan). She is currently a finalist for the prestigious Thurber Prize for American Humor. She is the first Middle Eastern woman ever to receive this honor.

Critics and readers of all ages have loved her stories.
Jimmy Carter called Funny in Farsi, "A humorous and introspective chronicle of a life filled with love—of family, country and heritage."

For the past year and a half, Firoozeh has traveled the country reminding us that our commonalities far outweigh our differences…and doing so with humor. She has spoken in conferences, schools, churches, Jewish temples and Islamic centers. Everywhere she has gone, audiences have embraced her message of shared humanity and invited her back for more.

In April 2005, Firoozeh’s one-woman show, "Laughing Without an Accent" opened in Northern California to sold out audiences. Her show will run for a full season at Theatreworks in Mountain View, California in 2006.

Author: Firoozeh Dumas. Levantine Cultural Center, 5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City CA 90232. Tix $10/$7 members. RSVPs strongly recommended as seating is limited: 310.559.5544. Or send checks to Levantine Center, 5920 Blackwelder St., Culver City CA 90232. Or purchase online:

Nov.10 (Thurs.) 7:30 pm—Levantine's author series presents Micheline Aharonian Marcom, introduced by José Rivera

One of America's finest young novelists, and winner of this year's PEN USA Award for Fiction for her her latest novel The Daydreaming Boy, Micheline Aharonian Marcom comes to Levantine Cultural Center for an evening of readings and conversation, where she will be introduced by José Rivera, writer of the hit film "Motrocycle Diaries" (Marcom, Rivera and Rivera's wife toured Turkey and historical Armenia this summer while she was doing research).

Micheline Aharonian Marcom was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1968 to an American father and a Lebanese Armenian mother. She grew up in Los Angeles, but, as a child in the years before the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), she spent summers in Beirut with her mother’s family. Marcom’s first novel, Three Apples Fell From Heaven, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Foundation for first fiction and received Columbia University’s Anahid Literary Award. It was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and one of the Best Books of 2001 by the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.

Her new novel, the second in a trilogy, is The Daydreaming Boy, for which she won the 2005 PEN Fiction Award. Three Apples Fell from Heaven, depicted the lives shattered by the Turkish government's brutal campaign that resulted in the deaths of more than a million Armenians. Now The Daydreaming Boy, carries forward the story of the refugees from the twentieth century's first genocide. Read review.

Vahé Tcheubjian is an upstanding, unremarkable member of the Armenian community of Beirut in the 1960s. He and his wife attend concerts and dinners, and partake of the sophisticated, continental culture that distinguishes the Beirut of his time as a cosmopolitan capital on the Mediterranean, the "Paris of the Middle East." But inside, Vahé is in turmoil - racked by memories of the escape from the campaign of genocide, the years spent in a Lebanese orphanage, the brutalities of his fellow orphans, ferocious and desperate and unloved. He seeks refuge in an outrageous and graphic fantasy life that flirt dangerously with emotional catastrophe, just as the Beirut he has come to adopt as his home edges toward a devastating civil war.

Micheline Aharonian Marcom lives in Northern California where she teaches creative writing at Mills College.

Author: Micheline Aharonian Marcom. Levantine Cultural Center, 5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City CA 90232. Tix $10/$7 members. RSVPs strongly recommended as seating is limited: 310.559.5544. Or send checks to Levantine Center, 5920 Blackwelder St., Culver City CA 90232. Or purchase online:

Nov.17 (Thurs.) 8:00 pm—Middle East Comic Relief with Maz Jobrani, Aron Kader, Peter the Persian and Vincent Ochana

In times like these we all could use more laughter, and these four young seasoned pros have plenty to get you hysterical about. Riffing on racism, immigration, 9/11, cultural malentendus and more, Maz, Aron, Peter and Vince are guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and you might even fall off your chair laughing!

Maz Jobrani has done standup comedy on Comedy Central's "Premium Blend", CBS's "The Late Late Show", and in London on "The World Stands Up" for the Paramount 2 Channel. He also performs standup regularly at the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory on Sunset in Hollywood. He also headlines at colleges and clubs all over the country including the Improvs and many of the top clubs in New York. Maz's standup has been featured in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, PBS, CNN and the CBS Morning Show. Maz is best known for his role as "Moly" in Ice Cube's "Friday After Next". In 2005, he was also a regular on the short lived Fox sitcom "Life on a Stick". He has guest starred as a"The Sikh" on the third season finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" along with several other guest starts on "Law & Order", "The West Wing", "NYPD Blue", "24", "Without a Trace", "Malcolm in the Middle", and many other shows. Maz played Glenn, Jennifer Garner's colleague, in the movie "13 Going on 30".

Aron Kader would like to thank his Palestinian father and Mormon mother for giving him so many reasons to be a comedian. Raised in the Washington D.C. area Aron (or Haroun) moved away to Hollywood at nineteen years old to pursue comedy and acting. Aron spent a year in the legendary sketch theatre "The Groundlings" Sunday company, and now performs regularly in Hollywood at his home club, The Comedy Store. He has been featured in the The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek magazine, and many other national publications. He was a stand out at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and received stellar reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year. Most of the time Kader can be seen touring all the major clubs and colleges around the country, and likes it if you Google him.

Born in Yonkers, NY, Vincent Ochana was already making people laugh by the age of three. The once scrawny and hyperactive kid, found himself being the center of attention at all family functions. In school he was always the class comedian and eventually won several high school talent contests with stand-up comedy routines and appeared in numerous plays. At the age of 19, he felt the call of duty and joined the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, Vincent received numerous medals for meritorious service and became one of the top 10 marksman on the USAF Shooting Team. While deployed in Iraq, Vincent found a way to get on stage and entertain his fellow troops during USO tours. After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Vincent moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a stand-up comedian. Vincent has entertained audiences in New York, Connecticut, South Carolina, Montana and California. Currently, he is living in Burbank, CA and attending the world famous Groundlings School of Improv.

Peter the Persian is a Los Angeles native. He is moderately ethnic and specializes in vooices and character humor. Not afraid of big crowds, he's let it all hang out in front of at least 10,000 people. He may be one of the few practicing comics who is also a practicing attorney by day.

Middle East Comic Relief, Thurs., Nov. 17, 8:00 pm. Tix $10, $7 members. RSVP as seating is limited and this event will sell out. Best bet is to get your tix in advance, by sending your check to Levantine Center (mark Comic Relief in the memo of your check), 5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City CA 90232, or get them online below. Info 310.559.5544.

The Levantine Social Club is open each Wednesday evening, from 6 pm-midnight.

Come on out and relax, play some
chess, backgammon, Scrabble or cards, have some Moroccan tea or Turkish coffee...Open mic from 9 to 11 pm will feature comedy, poets, spoken word and a range of musical performances—invite your talented friends, and get your own material ready!

Each week we give away free movie posters, complementary tickets and other surprises. You'll find fresh talent, and great conversation across the cultural spectrum at the Levantine Social Club.

5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City 90232. Info 310.559.5544.

Read a review of the film by May Alhassen.


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LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean
5920 Blackwelder Street, Culver City, CA. 90232
310.559.5544, info@levantinecenter.org

Levantine Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean contemporary arts and traditional cultures. We present or cosponsor programs of music, literature, art, film/video, publications, new media and more, often from educational and historical perspectives. While acknowledging the value of entertainment, we emphasize scholarship and substance. We are strongly multidisciplinary and non-sectarian, do not embrace any political or religious doctrine, and are committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation. We support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East/West Asia/Levant, as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent in diaspora.

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