EP1: Liana Badr

In this episode we speak with Liana Badr about her memories, writings and the places that influenced her culturally such as Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Amman, Beirut, Damascus, and Ramallah.

Liana Badr is a writer, poet, and film director, born in 1950 in Jerusalem to politically active parents. She lived between Jericho and Jerusalem until 1967 when she fled with her family to Jordan and was unable to return. Badr lived in Amman, before moving to Beirut where she studied psychology and philosophy, and began a career in creative and journalistic writing. Her first novel appeared in 1979 under the title A Compass for the Sunflower. After leaving Beirut in 1982, she lived in Damascus and Tunis, before eventually returning to Ramallah with the Oslo Accords, where she worked in the Palestinian Ministry of Culture. Her most recent novel appeared in 2019 titled Land of the Turtle. She wrote and directed numerous films, including a film about the Palestinian poetess Fadwa Tuqan.

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Produced by the PalREAD – Country of Words project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC)

Interviewer: Tala Halawa

Writer, Producer and Editor: Ibrahim Abdou

Host & Concept Design: Refqa Abu-Remaileh

Research Support: Heba Tebakhi

Sound Recording: Arts Faculty Studios at Birzeit University

Sound Editing & Design: Ziad Fayed

VO Recording: Gianpiero Tari

Music: “The Astounding Eyes of Rita” by Anouar Brahem (ECM Records, 2009)