two novels in the country of men india's traneight a visiting professor and we will begin with hisham matar. >> good morning. thing due to everybody here for being here and also to the brooklyn festival for hosting this event. the arab spring which and arabic we referred to the arabic awakening which is far less a seasonal. [laughter] we speak not every time but a lot of times we speak as if we expect history to respond at the same pace as it did with the uprisings that moves at the glacial based -- pace such as the air of spring as when it moves very fast and dramatic and we expect that to continue and first of all, before asking what will happen but ask ourselves or question the assumptions what has actually taken place? i think one of the things that has taken place is not what people focus on which is the overthrow of incredibly violent longstanding dictators which is a an incredible event but what is more fundamental or dramatic it is that the people for the first time in their living memory collectively stop to ask themselves fundamental questions of what it means to be a people and a

our first speaker is hisham matar. hisam is a novelist race in new york most than cairo.s father and dissident was deducted from the family's home in cairo in 1990 with the assistance of mubarak's police and he's been missing since. hisham is the author of two novels, in the country of men and most recently, "anatomy of a disappearance." we will begin with hisham. >> hello, good morning. thank you, adamant tanks to everybody here for being here and also to support one festival hosting this event. i think they are spring -- which is actually in arabic that were referred to as the year of awakening, which i think is far less seasonal. i think every time we speak about this, we speak not every time, but a lot of times we speak as if we expect history to respond at the same page as it did during this uprising. history, which goes most of the time at a glacial pace. certainly there are moments such as the arab spring when it's very fast and dramatic and somehow we expect that to continue. and i think we have to first of all before asking what is going to happen, perhaps ask ou