The discussion will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at Cary Library’s Williams House, 14 Old Winthrop Road. The program will include excerpts from the play performed by the students. An informal reception will follow the program.

Vecsey is a senior lecturer in theater and vocal director for theater productions at Bates College. She was born in Budapest and lived there until 1995, when she moved to Maine and began teaching at Bates College. She lives in Lewiston with her husband, John Painter, and their 12-year-old son Kelen.

Reza Jalali, author of “The Poets and the Assassin,” is a Muslim scholar and writer who has taught at the Bangor Theological Seminary and University of Southern Maine, where he currently coordinates the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. Jalali is a human rights and refugee activist. As a member of Amnesty International’s USA board of directors, he led delegations to refugee camps in Turkey and Bosnia. His collection of short stories, “Homesick Mosque” was published in 2013. His first children’s book, “Moon Watchers,” published by Tilbury House Publishers in 2010, received a Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural Books.

Admission to the play preview and discussion is free and open to the public. For more information, call 207-685-3612.

“The Poets and the Assassin” will be performed at Gannett Theatre, Bates College at 5 p.m. Friday, March 6; and at the Space Gallery, 538 Congress Street, Portland, on Thursday, March 12, with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the play at 6:45 p.m. Free admission and open to the public. For more information, call Bates College at 207-786-6161;  or Space Gallery at 207-828-5600.

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