In the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, Palestine, sixteen-year-old Amal Tuqan finds her escape in tightrope walking. Living in an alley so narrow that “the walls hold their breath,” she practices tirelessly on thin wires and slippery rebar. Her extraordinary talent leads her to Tel Aviv in the summer of 2019, where she joins The Flying Kids, a circus that brings together Israeli and Palestinian children. There, she forms a deep friendship with Tali Glazman, a Jewish Israeli juggler, and they discover they share a painful bond: both have lost their fathers to violence.<\/p>\n
As their friendship defies the deep-seated animosities that divide them,\u00a0The Wire-Walker<\/em> reveals more than just a tale of friendship; it is a raw and powerful commentary on the daily struggles faced by Amal and her community in the occupied West Bank. Award-winning author James Janko’s vividly-imagined novel is set against the backdrop of 2019-2020, serving a prequel to the struggles that have unfolded since. Janko joins us at Town Hall to discuss more from his novel, highlighting the enduring spirit of youth amidst conflict.<\/p>","excerpt":"","slug":"james-janko","image":{"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko.jpg","id":67533,"extension":"jpg","width":800,"height":400,"filesize":225324,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":300,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":13107,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-300x150.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":9000,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-150x150.jpg"},"medium_large":{"width":768,"height":384,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":46226,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-768x384.jpg"},"et-pb-post-main-image":{"width":400,"height":250,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":22761,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-400x250.jpg"},"et-pb-portfolio-image":{"width":400,"height":284,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":25338,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-400x284.jpg"},"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":{"width":510,"height":382,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":36756,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-510x382.jpg"},"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":{"width":400,"height":400,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":30689,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-400x400.jpg"},"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":{"width":480,"height":240,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":23430,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko-480x240.jpg"}}},"all_day":false,"start_date":"2025-10-15 19:30:00","start_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"10","day":"15","hour":"19","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"end_date":"2025-10-15 19:30:00","end_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"10","day":"15","hour":"19","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"utc_start_date":"2025-10-16 02:30:00","utc_start_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"10","day":"16","hour":"02","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"utc_end_date":"2025-10-16 02:30:00","utc_end_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"10","day":"16","hour":"02","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"timezone":"America\/Los_Angeles","timezone_abbr":"PDT","cost":"$10 \u2013 $35 Sliding Scale","cost_details":{"currency_symbol":"$","currency_code":"USD\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=","currency_position":"prefix","values":["10","35"]},"website":"","show_map":false,"show_map_link":true,"hide_from_listings":false,"sticky":false,"featured":false,"categories":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","slug":"arts-culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":54,"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","description":"","parent":0,"count":290,"filter":"raw","id":54,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories\/54","collection":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories"}}],"tags":[],"venue":{"id":62284,"author":"2","status":"publish","date":"2023-12-30 11:36:12","date_utc":"2023-12-30 19:36:12","modified":"2023-12-30 11:36:12","modified_utc":"2023-12-30 19:36:12","url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/venue\/the-mehdi-reading-room\/","venue":"The Mehdi Reading Room","slug":"the-mehdi-reading-room","image":{"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin.jpg","id":63111,"extension":"jpg","width":1868,"height":934,"filesize":59051,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":300,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":5384,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-300x150.jpg"},"large":{"width":1024,"height":512,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":27540,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-1024x512.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":3737,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-150x150.jpg"},"medium_large":{"width":768,"height":384,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":18575,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-768x384.jpg"},"1536x1536":{"width":1536,"height":768,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":47743,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-1536x768.jpg"},"et-pb-post-main-image":{"width":400,"height":250,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":9538,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-400x250.jpg"},"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":{"width":1080,"height":675,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":35109,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-1080x675.jpg"},"et-pb-portfolio-image":{"width":400,"height":284,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":10197,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-400x284.jpg"},"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":{"width":510,"height":382,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":15036,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-510x382.jpg"},"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":{"width":1080,"height":540,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":29867,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-1080x540.jpg"},"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":{"width":400,"height":516,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":14191,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-400x516.jpg"},"et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":{"width":1280,"height":640,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":36944,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-1280x640.jpg"},"et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":{"width":980,"height":490,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":26303,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-980x490.jpg"},"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":{"width":480,"height":240,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":9690,"url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin-480x240.jpg"}}},"address":"1119 8th Ave","city":"Seattle","country":"United States","zip":"98101","json_ld":{"@type":"Place","name":"The Mehdi Reading Room","description":"","image":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin.jpg","url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/venue\/the-mehdi-reading-room\/","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"1119 8th Ave","addressLocality":"Seattle","postalCode":"98101","addressCountry":"United States"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"show_map":true,"show_map_link":true,"global_id":"townhallseattle.org?id=62284","global_id_lineage":["townhallseattle.org?id=62284"]},"organizer":[],"custom_fields":{"_ecp_custom_27":{"label":"Event Format","value":"In-Person"}},"json_ld":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Event","name":"James Janko","description":"<p>In the Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, Palestine, sixteen-year-old Amal Tuqan finds her escape in tightrope walking. Living in an alley so narrow that "the walls hold their breath," she […]<\/p>\\n","image":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/james-janko.jpg","url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/event\/james-janko\/","eventAttendanceMode":"https:\/\/schema.org\/OfflineEventAttendanceMode","eventStatus":"https:\/\/schema.org\/EventScheduled","startDate":"2025-10-15T19:30:00-07:00","endDate":"2025-10-15T19:30:00-07:00","location":{"@type":"Place","name":"The Mehdi Reading Room","description":"","image":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Default_blog_tile_thin.jpg","url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/venue\/the-mehdi-reading-room\/","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"1119 8th Ave","addressLocality":"Seattle","postalCode":"98101","addressCountry":"United States"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"$10 \u2013 $35 Sliding Scale","priceCurrency":"USD\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=","url":"https:\/\/townhallseattle.org\/event\/james-janko\/","category":"primary","availability":"inStock","validFrom":"2025-08-27T00:00:00+00:00"},"performer":"Organization"},"is_virtual":false,"virtual_url":null,"virtual_video_source":""}