At Gorgias Press, we don't only want to tell you about our books. We also want to showcase our authors, their scholarship, and the journey behind their publications.
On this page you'll find information on our talk series, "The Author's Voice", which is run in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. We've also added our archive of e-bulletin author features. In each e-bulletin a Gorgias Press author tells the story behind their publication(s) in their own words.
The Author's Voice 2021: Online Lecture Program
The Author's Voice 2022: Online Lecture Program
March 10 - Christopher Clohessy
Affiliation/title: Resident Faculty Member, Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI)
Abstract: When, on an autumn Medina night in 61/680, the night that saw al-Ḥusayn killed, Umm Salama was torn from her sleep by an apparition of a long-dead Muḥammad, she slipped effortlessly into a progression of her co-religionists who, irrespective of status, gender or standing with God, were the recipients of dark and arresting visions. At the core of those Delphian dreams, peopled by angels or ğinn or esteemed forbears and textured with Iraqi dust and martyrs’ blood, was the Karbalāʾ event. Her dream would be recounted by an array of Muslim scholars, from al-Tirmiḏī, stellar pupil of al-Buḫārī, and Ibn ʿAsākir, untiring chronicler of Syrian history, to bibliophile theologian Ibn Ṭāʾūs and Egyptian polymath al-Suyūṭī. But this was not Umm Salama’s only otherworldly encounter and she was not the only one to have al-Ḥusayn’s fate disturb her nights. This presentation will explore their story.
June 23 - Maria Evangelatou
Presentation title: The symbolic language of Ethiopian crosses: Explorations through form and ritual -
WATCH AGAIN HEREAffiliation/title: Professor of Mediterranean Studies, Department of History of Art and Visual Culture, University of California, Santa Cruz
Abstract: Ethiopia is unique in the world for the incomparable prominence of the cross in the life of its Orthodox Christian population. Crosses of unparalleled intricacy and sophistication are extensively used in religious and magic rituals, as well as in the daily social interactions and personal experiences of people in diverse contexts. A close contextual analysis of select visual material suggests that Ethiopian crosses can be read as visual discourse on a broad range of ideas: from religious beliefs about protection and salvation to interrelated socio-political values regarding order and power, and from individual and collective notions of identity to cultural notions of local and universal history. Thus, the cross emerges as the sacred matrix that encompasses the life of the world in both its microcosmic and macrocosmic dimensions; and as the social and cultural nexus through which and with which people interact in order to shape and express personal and communal identities and hopes.
October 13 - Ayad Al-Ani
Presentation title: The Perils and Joys of writing on the Arabs before Islam -
WATCH AGAIN HEREAffiliation/title: Associate Member of the Einstein Centre Digital Future, Berlin, and Professor extraordinary at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University.
Abstract: For a political scientist, the numerous contradictory themes surrounding the Arabs and their region before the coming of Islam often seem strange and incomprehensible. Although there are no major barriers posed by rivers or mountain ranges, numerous civilizations are identified in the region each with their own language. Hence, in this perspective there is little opportunity for an Arab identity to emerge among those groups, despite the fact that the Arabs themselves, as well as the Romans, seemingly had no problem identifying "Arabs". Furthermore, there has, in some discussions on the theme, been a hesitancy in delineating the Arab language and script before the 5th century, rendering the appearance of the Qur’an mysterious. The majority of Arabs in the Roman East were Christians by this same period, and some still believe that monotheistic informants of the prophet need to be identified. Once these contradictions have been unraveled, however, things fall into place and a longue durée of events can emerge. And what a fascinating and beautiful stretch of history this is! It provides a common historical space between the East and the West, with religious ideas flowing from the periphery to the center, not destroying but perfecting it, in which heroes and heroines, immortalized by poetry, battle memories and ruins so “everlastingly deaf, silent, and inarticulate” can be discovered. This talk will explore the process of dealing with these and other contradictions by adding a political and sociological lens to this stretch of history by focusing on the riddle of the disappearance of the Arabs from history before Islam, their sudden appearance behind the banners of the Prophet, and the powerful and traumatic effect this emergence into world history has had on the relationship between the Arabs and the West.
December 8 - Hilla N. Alouf-Aboody, Independent scholar of Second Temple literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and rabbinic texts, who holds a PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University.
Presentation title: Through the Prism of Wisdom: Elijah the Prophet as a Bearer of Wisdom in Rabbinic Literature - REGISTER HERE
Abstract: This presentation will explore the nature of the Elijah traditions in rabbinic literature and their connection to the wisdom tradition. By examining the diverse Elijah traditions in connection to the wisdom and apocalyptic traditions, I aim to shed new light on the manner in which Elijah’s role developed in rabbinic literature.
Here's what you missed last year! The Author's Voice 2021: Online Lecture Program
The Author's Voice 2021: Online Lecture Progra
You can watch all these talks at the links below!
Elie Wardini, March 25 https://youtu.be/LjQIUc-liBA
Solange Ashby, June 17 https://www.ias.edu/video/goddess-isis-and-kingdom-meroe
Michael Bonner, Sep 16, https://www.ias.edu/video/sasanian-iran-personal-view
Laura, Hassan, Dec 9, https://www.ias.edu/video/asharism-encounters-avicennism-sayf-al-din-al-amidi-d-6311233-creation
Gorgias Archive - e-Bulletin Author Features
Gorgias Archive - e-Bulletin Author Features
Edward G. Mathews talks about Jacob of Sarug's Homilies on the Six Days of Creation - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-six-days-of-creation
V.K. McCarty talks about From Their Lips: The Voices of Early Christian Women - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/from-their-lips-1823685
Joey McCollum and Brent Niedergall discuss The Tale of Peter Rabbit in Koine Greek - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/peter-rabbit-1823677
J. Lilu Chen Talks about Chinese Heirs to Muhammad - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/chinese-heirs-to-muhammad
Laura Hassan talks about Ash‘arism Encounters Avicennism - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/asharism-encounters-avicennism-1823509-1823612
Jacob A. Lollar talks about The History of John the Son of Zebedee - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-history-of-john-the-son-of-zebedee-1823509-1823608
Solange Ashby talks about Calling Out to Isis: The Enduring Nubian Presence at Philae - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/calling-out-to-isis-1823509-1823568
Sebastian Brock talks about Singer of the Word of God - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/singer-of-the-word-of-god-1823509-1823541
Rhiannon Graybill and Peter J. Sabo discuss "Who Knows What We'd Make of It If We Ever Got Our Hands on It?": The Bible and Margaret Atwood - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-bible-and-margaret-atwood-1823509-1823572
David N. Gottlieb talks about Second Slayings - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/second-slayings-1823509-1823521
Iskandar Bcheiry talks about An Early Christian Reaction to Islam - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/an-early-christian-reaction-to-islam1823509
Karenleigh A. Overmann talks about The Material Origin of Numbers - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-material-origin-of-numbers-1823477
Essam Ayyad talks about The Making of the Mosque - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-making-of-the-mosque-1823441
Reem Al Shqour talks about The Aqaba Khans and the Origin of the Khans in Jordan - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/the-aqaba-khans-and-the-origin-of-khans-in-jordan-1823417
George Kiraz talks about The Syriac Orthodox in North America - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/syriac-orthodox-in-north-america-1823409
Robert Hoyland talks about Seeing Islam As Other Saw It - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/seeing-islam-1823397
Christopher Clohessy talks about Half of My Heart - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/purple-padre-1823373
Caryn Tamber-Rosenau talks about Women in Drag - https://mailchi.mp/gorgiaspress/women-in-drag-january-ancient-near-east-sale-1823353
