User:Nosreknah/sandbox

Mizna is an organization devoted to promoting Arab-American culture and providing a forum for its expression. Mizna values diversity in community and is committed to giving voice to Arab Americans through film, literature, and art.

History
Mizna was founded in 1998. Since 1999, Mizna has published Mizna: Prose, Poetry, and Art Exploring Arab America the only journal of Arab American literature in the United States. The journal serves literary communities in libraries, museums and universities throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Mizna has been featured in many media outlets including the Utne Reader, National Public Radio, the Lebanese Daily Star, Bahrain Today, and Qantara, the publication of the Institut du Monde Arabe. In 2003, Mizna received a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Small Presses for a poem by Khaled Mattawa which first appeared in Mizna.

Programs
Since 2002, Mizna has also produced the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival the only such festival in the upper Midwest and the second longest Arab film festival endeavor in North America. Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival aims to exhibit primarily films made by and about Arabs, but also about non-Arabs who live in the Arab world. With few exceptions, the festival screens Minnesota theatrical premieres and has featured a number of regional and national premieres.

Mizna also holds Arabic language classes, hosts literary readings, supports the production of local playwrights, and partners with local organizations on specific arts related projects.

In 2012, Mizna launched Silaat/Connections, a series of community dialogues and writing workshops for Arab and/or Muslim community members.