Date: Now - May 15, 2025 
Location: Butler Library, 3rd Floor Exhibit Space

This exhibit, curated by Joy Al-Nemri (MESAAS Alumna) features inscriptions from approximately 50 books selected from Edward Said’s book collections, which are housed in the Edward Said Reading Room (Butler Library), the Middle East Institute, and his former New York City apartment. The exhibit provides a sampling of the numerous inscriptions that friends, students, family members, and admirers left in the opening pages of the books that they gifted to Edward Said. These heartfelt messages reveal Said’s profound and far-reaching influence, weaving a narrative of deep and broad intellectual and personal connections across peoples, disciplines, genres, times, and geographies. The inscriptions bear testimony to Said’s intellectual brilliance, but also to the deep empathy, courage, and vision that defined his lifelong advocacy for justice, human rights, and intellectual freedom. 

If non-Columbia affiliates are interested in viewing the exhibit, please email Kaoukab Chebaro kc3287@columbia.edu.