South Asia Studies Department and Wolf Humanities Center Postdoctoral Fellow Paniz Musawi Natanzi and the Latitudes working group are co-organizing the launch of the book “Ugliness,” published by New Vessel Press, written by author and artist Moshtari Hilal. 

Author and visual artist Moshtari Hilal will read passages from the English translation of her book Ugliness, published by New Vessel Press (2025) and translated by Elisabeth Lauffer. Moshtari Hilal is a visual artist, writer, and curator based in Hamburg and Berlin. Born in Afghanistan, she pursued Islamic studies and political science in Hamburg, Berlin, and London. Her first book, Hässlichkeit (Ugliness), was awarded the Hamburg Literature Prize for non-fiction and was listed as one of the most beautiful German books by Stiftung Buchkunst. She is co-founder and co-curator of AVAH (Afghan Visual Arts and History) collective. Hilal's book was first published in German under the title Hässlichkeit by Hanser Verlag (2023).

The reading will be followed by a conversation with Penn English PhD student Mursal Sidiqi and Wolf Humanities Center Research Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow Paniz Musawi Natanzi and a Q&A session.