REGISTRATION FOR THE 2025 RAWIFEST IS NOW OPEN! Get your ticket here. Your $150 ticket provides access to every panel, workshop, reading, and screening, free lunch on Friday and Saturday, as well as compensating the artists, writers, and speakers who perform. We can't wait to see you!

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RAWIFest 2025 will be held from Friday, October 10, to Sunday, October 12 in Houston, Texas. Keynote speakers will be Fady Joudah and Noor Naga. The conference consists of readings, panels, workshops, roundtables, and celebrations of both emerging and established SWANA creatives. A full program of presenters will be available to download in July.

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RAWIFest is a biannual conference that has been held for three decades and running, bringing together Arab and SWANA creatives as well as non-SWANA allies–not only poets, prose writers, and playwrights, but visual artists, performance artists, musicians, educators and scholars–both in diaspora in North America as well as from other regions. RAWI especially invites Black, Indigenous, and other people of color interested in our programming to apply.

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At RAWIFest, we aim to create a space where we can talk amongst ourselves and highlight voices and people threatened by erasure. In a global climate where opportunities for Arab and SWANA creatives to share our experiences and insights is limited, RAWI’s biennial gathering provides a rare opportunity to bring a large number of Arab American and SWANA writers, artists, and scholars (and their readers, allies, and admirers) into the same inclusive and welcoming space so we can engage in various dialogues otherwise unavailable to us.

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For full program and festival FAQ from our 2023 RAWIFest, co-hosted with Mizna, please see this blog post. For full list of performers and bios from 2023, please go here.

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CONFERENCE TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION DETAILS
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Air Travel:

The nearest airports to Houston are Intercontinental Airport (IAH, 23 miles away) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU, 11 miles away).

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Hotel:

The nearest hotel to the Honors College is the Hilton located on campus. There is no hotel block, so we encourage attendees to book their rooms as soon as possible to ensure availability.

We advise attendees to arrive on Thursday, October 9 and to depart on Sunday, October 12 or Monday October 13. Our full conference schedule will be available in July.

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Accessibility:

The conference venue, the University of Houston Honors College, includes an elevator for those with mobility issues and ADA accessible bathrooms. The University of Houston can also assist in supporting specific access issues and needs through their accessibility center, as needed.

A gender-neutral bathroom is available a short walk away from the Honors College at the student center (see campus map), and we invite all attendees to use the bathroom of their choice.

RAWI will be the only group occupying the Honors College over the weekend.

As always, if any conference attendee has any concerns or has any negative experiences around the use of Honors College facilities during the conference, we urge you to communicate this to a RAWI board member as soon as possible.

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TEXAS TRAVEL SAFETY FOR LGBTQIA+ ATTENDEES
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As we plan for this year’s RAWIFest in a rapidly changing legislative and cultural climate, the safety of our queer and trans attendees, panelists, and performers is a priority for us, including both folks who are traveling from outside of Texas to attend the conference as well as our queer and trans friends, family, and colleagues who reside within the state. Our goal is for all our attendees to have as much information as possible to best plan their travel and their time in Houston, and we encourage you to get in touch with us at radiusofarabamericanwriters@gmail.com if you have additional concerns or would like to discuss options prior to planning your travel.
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We will keep this page updated in the coming months, and we encourage potential attendees to read through the information below as you plan for the conference.

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Current legislative situation in the U.S. and Texas

As of April 18, 2025, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the current administration’s executive order preventing trans people from obtaining passports with their correct gender marker, which was extended to trans people as a class. However, recent reporting has indicated that the administration is currently not complying with the court order and, in some cases, is holding passport renewal requests on indefinite hold, effectively preventing people from traveling.

Anecdotal reports have indicated that, as of this writing, the executive order is not being used to target existing passports with updated gender markers. This does not, however, preclude discriminatory treatment from airport staff or customs officers toward trans, gender nonconforming, and/or intersex travelers, particularly Black, brown, Indigenous, disabled, Muslim, noncitizen, and other travelers who are already under increased scrutiny and surveillance during air travel and border crossings.

Erin in the Morning’s risk-assessment report designates Texas a “do not travel” state. The risks to trans people in Texas are most severe for Texas residents, who have been denied court-ordered updates to gender markers on driver's licenses, for example. Of concern is house bill HB 239, which would legally define trans people out of existence in the state of Texas and seek to prevent trans people from using public bathrooms and changing facilities of their gender in public universities, state and county-owned facilities like the Texas Capitol, and public schools or agency buildings, with increased fines from previous similar bills, up to $25,000, though most reporting on the bill indicates that it is not likely to be passed.

As of this writing, Texas has not passed any state-wide legislation limiting bathroom use for trans people. Attendees should feel free to use any bathroom at the university. RAWI will also be the only group occupying the Honors College over the weekend.

As always, if any conference attendee has any concerns or has any negative experiences around the use of Honors College facilities during the conference, we urge you to communicate this to a RAWI board member as soon as possible.
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For travelers within the US:

As of May 7, 2025, the Transportation Safety Administration requires all air travelers to provide a “Real ID–compliant” travel document at the security checkpoint. This is commonly a recent, state-issued driver’s license, but other forms of documentation, such as a passport, are also valid. You can read more here: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id/real-id-faqs.

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For international travelers:

All international travelers to Houston must have a valid passport. Read more about the requirements and whether you will need a visa here: https://www.dhs.gov/visit-united-states.

Know Your Rights: Airport Security for Trans Travelers

Lambda Legal’s Identity Document Checklist for Trans, Nonbinary, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex Travelers (updated for 2025)

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Travel between airports and the University of Houston campus:

Lyft offers a service called “Women+ Connect” through their app which “offers women and nonbinary drivers a preference that helps them match more often with women and nonbinary riders.” Though this service may be of limited usefulness as it is 1) unclear how the app decides who is eligible for this service, 2) potentially outs trans riders, and 3) fails to address the risk of harassment that visibly queer and trans people and those with masc gender presentations (for example trans men) experience on such apps, you can read more at the link above to consider whether it may be useful for you.
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Travel Signal Group:

As we approach the conference dates, RAWI will establish a Signal group through which LGBTQIA+ travelers, or anyone with safety concerns, can check in during their journey, plan ridesharing, and connect with other attendees with similar concerns. If you would like to be added to the group please email us at radiusofarabamericanwriters@gmail.com after registering for the conference.
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Information about Houston:

• Off-campus LGBTQ resources compiled by the university: https://uhsystem.edu/resources/crossroads/resources/off-campus-lgbtq-resources/index.php
• Resources for trans Texans: https://equalitytexas.org/resources/community-resources/
• Information for trans people encountering law enforcement: https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/transgender-people-and-law-enforcement-interactions-rights-and-realities/
• If you need medical care during the conference, the university offers a directory of nearby providers here: https://uh.edu/healthcenter/after-hours/. The nearest medical center to the Honors College is the HCA Houston Medical Center.
• The Montrose Center provides services to LGBTQIA+ people in Houston and the surrounding area, including a senior center and one-stop access to behavioral health and support services, substance use recovery services, HIV testing and counseling, adult primary care and psychiatry, and free wellness programs.
• The Legacy Community Health in Montrose is a LGBTQ+ affirming care center.