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A Practical Guide to Classical Arabic Poetry: Tools for Understanding Form and Meaning, Art and Function

Audience: Public Format: In Person
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Three-day conference exploring classical Arabic poetry through form, meaning, performance, genres, and interpretation.

Tuesday, 7 July 2026 to Thursday, 9 July 2026, 9am - 5pm

Kindly contact Tahera Qutbuddin (tahera.qutbuddin@ames.ox.ac.uk) to confirm attendance.

Conference Program:

7 July 2026 – St John's College, Oxford

09:00–09:10 Welcome Remarks – Tahera Qutbuddin, Kevin Blankinship, Nathaniel Miller
09:10–09:50 Tahera Qutbuddin (Oxford) – Meter and Rhyme
09:50–10:30 Tahera Qutbuddin – Balāghah: The Art of Eloquence
10:30–10:50 Refreshment Break
10:50–11:30 Hilary Kilpatrick (Lausanne) – Poets as People
11:30–12:10 Beatrice Gruendler (Free University, Berlin) – Performance and Reader Response
12:20–13:50 Lunch
14:00–14:40 David Larsen (New York University) – Imagery
14:40–15:20 Nefeli Papoutsakis (Munster) – The Functions of Poetry in Society
15:20–15:40 Refreshment Break
15:40–16:20 Kevin Blankinship (Brigham Young University) – Lexicons
16:20–17:00 Kevin Blankinship – Translation

8 July 2026 – St John's College, Oxford

09:00–09:40 Geert Jan van Gelder (Oxford) – Genres, Themes, Motifs
09:40–10:20 Geert Jan van Gelder – The Sound of Arabic Poetry
10:20–10:40 Refreshment Break
10:40–11:20 Nathaniel Miller (Denver) – Theoretical Approaches
11:20–12:00 Nathaniel Miller – Minor Genres, Fun Facts
12:05–13:35 Lunch
13:45–14:25 Marlé Hammond (SOAS) – Women's Voices
14:25–15:05 Theodore Beers (Drexel) – The Relationship between Arabic & Persian Poetry
15:05–15:25 Refreshment Break
15:25–16:05 Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut, online) – Anthologies
16:05–16:45 Yaron Klein (Carleton) – Music

9 July 2026 – St John's College, Oxford

09:15–09:55 Julia Bray (Oxford) – Form and Structure
09:55–10:35 Julia Bray – Emotions
10:35–10:55 Refreshment Break
10:55–11:35 Nathaniel Miller and Theodore Beers – Digital Humanities
11:35–11:50 Stefan Sperl (SOAS) – Conference Response

Speaker(s): Tahera Qutbuddin, Kevin Blankinship, Nathaniel Miller, Hilary Kilpatrick, Beatrice Gruendler, David Larsen, Nefeli Papoutsakis, Geert Jan van Gelder, Marlé Hammond, Theodore Beers, Bilal Orfali, Yaron Klein, Julia Bray, Stefan Sperl

Venue: St John's College - New Seminar Room - New Seminar Room St John's College St Giles Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 3JP United Kingdom

Department: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Department)

Organiser: Tahera Qutbuddin