A powerful conversation between Céline Semaan and Noura Erakat. This is not your typical book launch. It’s a gathering between two brilliant voices who will come together to speak about storytelling, survival, cultural resistance, and the deep work of reclaiming identity through language, memory, and the body. Rooted in Céline’s debut memoir A Woman is a School, the evening will explore the long echoes of war and exile, the city as a witness, and what it means to author our own stories in times of erasure and fragmentation. Books will be available for sale through our bookshop.

Céline Semaan is a Lebanese‑Canadian designer, writer, and activist, and the founder of the Slow Factory Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to climate justice, human rights, and sustainability literacy. She uses design, storytelling, and education to challenge colonial systems and promote regenerative solutions. Her work bridges environmental advocacy with cultural resilience, drawing from her lived experience as a child refugee from Beirut and her commitment to equity in the global fashion industry.

Noura Erakat is a Palestinian‑American human rights attorney, legal scholar, and activist whose work focuses on international law, social justice, and the Palestinian struggle for freedom. An associate professor at Rutgers University, she is the author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine and a co‑founding editor of the online magazine Jadaliyya. Through her teaching, writing, and public advocacy, Erakat challenges power structures, examines the role of law in conflict, and amplifies movements for liberation and human rights.