Etel Adnan. Poems, Novels, Essays (1966–2021), presented by the Beirut Art Film Festival (BAFF) in collaboration with the Bibliothèque Orientale of Saint Joseph University of Beirut is on view for its last week. Marking the centenary of Etel Adnan’s birth (Beirut 1925 – Paris 2021), the exhibition runs until 19 December 2025 and offers an unprecedented focus on her literary work bringing together poems, novels, essays, and their translations into more than a dozen languages, including Arabic, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Turkish, and Czech.
Adnan’s writing occupies a singular space within modern literature. Moving between lyrical reflection and philosophical inquiry, her texts explore love, nature, memory, loss, and the political upheavals that shaped her era. As Michel Cassir observes in the preface to The Arab Apocalypse, Adnan stands “at the heart of human history in its immediacy… sharpening the weapon of art to better live and understand the world.”
The exhibition has been made possible through the collaboration of Simone Fattal and the support of several publishers and institutions who contributed rare editions on display until closing. These works will later join the permanent collections of the Bibliothèque Orientale.
Supported by BAFF’s patrons – the Philippe Jabre Association, the Saadallah and Loubna Khalil Foundation, Carla Chammas, and Judi Roaman – this exhibition offers Beirut a final opportunity to encounter the breadth, clarity, and enduring resonance of Etel Adnan’s literary legacy.