Does the Arabic Literary Scene Need More Jackals?
At the Abu Dhabi Book Fair this March, one of the sessions (Agents–How They Operate, How to Cooperate) addressed the paucity of Arab literary agents. According to Chad Post, presenters […]
April 2010
Someone Else’s Egypt Book List
It must be “Egypt fiction” week, as Donna McIlvain posted a list just before me on her “Bookpaths” blog. Hers, however, are books not so much by Egyptians (some, of […]
Million’s Poet Crown Stolen from Hilal?
International poetry star Hissa Hilal did not win the Million’s Poet finals two weeks ago. But was this because she wasn’t the best poet—or because she didn’t have a big […]
Colloquial vs. Classical: How Do You Write?
The most interesting things I’ve overheard from the Beirut39 festival (and it’s hard to overhear what’s going on in Beirut from Cairo—noisy here) have been about how young writers choose […]
And Now, the ‘Breakthrough’ in Sharing Arabic Lit with English Speakers?
I have heard and read a lot about the West’s sudden interest in Arabic literature: it’s The Yacoubian Building, it’s 9/11, it’s the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and now […]
A Few of My Favorite Things: Egyptian Authors, Taha Hussein-Present
Please don’t think that the list below is authoritative. It doesn’t have Yahia Haqqi, for instance, because I haven’t read him. It doesn’t have Edwar Kharrat, because I’ve found the […]
Two Takes on Beirut39
I can’t find anyone blogging from the festival. Guardian editor Claire Armistead is (tweeting? is that the accepted verb?), but too sporadically and personally to give a view of the […]
Guardian Blog Calls for Reading Revolution in Saudi Arabia, I Mean Arab World, I Mean Saudi…
There are lots of things that irritate me: the plastic wrap publishers put on their books here in Cairo so that I can’t thumb through the first few pages; sloppy, […]
Mustafa Al-Slaiman on Translating ‘Metaphor-poor’ German into Arabic
Qantara has an interesting Q&A with German-to-Arabic translator Mustafa al-Slaiman in this week’s issue. Silke Lode asks: Why are so many children’s books being translated into Arabic? Al-Slaiman (and, as […]