The Middle East Institute in partnership with the Writers’ Centre at Yale-NUS College will hold a reading and discussion of Ashraf Fayadh’s poetry in solidarity with the poet, currently facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Fayadh, a 35 year-old Palestinian poet and art curator who lives in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death by a Saudi court on 17 November 2015 for the alleged crime of apostasy. He was denied access to a lawyer throughout his detention and trial. Though he stands accused of blaspheming and promoting atheism through his collection of poetry, Instructions Within, published in 2008, Fayadh has asserted that the poems are “just about me being [a] Palestinian refugee … about cultural and philosophical issues. But the religious extremists explained it as destructive ideas against God.” Through readings of his work in both Arabic and English we will acknowledge the injustice suffered by Fayadh and his substantial contribution to the global art scene and Arabic literature.