Update to the List of 105 Best Books in Arabic (and Their Availability in English)

Reader John Alvey generously devoted some time to finding works that I missed from the original list of the Arab Writers Union’s “Best 105 Books in Arabic.” He also added notations for those translated into other European languages.

My additions (generally the authors’ names, so you don’t have to go back and check against the original list) are in brackets.

3. Sonallah Ibrahim’s Honour is available in French as Charaf ou l’honneur, ActesSud, 1999

9. As you point out Mahmoud Messadi’s Thus Spoke Abu Huraira is available in French – Ainsi parlait Abou Hourayra, Actes Sud 1996, also available in German – Und es sprach Abu Hurairata, Hamouda. 2009

14. [Hanna Mina, The Sail and the Storm] Translated into Italian – La vela e la tempesta, Jouvence 1993

16. [I Shall Present You With Another City trilogy] Published in the UK by Quartet in 1995 (Ahmed Faqih) and still available, e.g. from amazon.co.uk

17. [Leila Baalbaki: I Live] Published in French – Je vis! Seuil 1958 and in German – Ich lebe, Lenos 1994

40. [Ghalib Halasa] His Wadî’, al-qiddîsa Mîlâda wa-âkharûn translated into German as Wadi und die heilige Milada (Hamouda, 2009)

44. [Tawfiq al-Hakim, Return of the Soul] Translated into English as Return of the Spirit (Three Continents, 1990,); The Return of Consciousness (New York University Press, 1985; Macmillan, 1985)

53. [Abdelhamid Ben Haddouka, Wind from the South] Translated into French – Vent du Sud (Société nationale d’édition et de diffusion, 1975)

54. [Ahmed Youssef] One book in French – Journal inachevé d’une étudiante voilée à Paris (la Pensée universelle, 1991)

62. [Yousef al-Sibai] His The Cobbler and Other Stories (Cairo, Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers, 1973) in English

70. [Sahar Khalifeh’s Door to the Courtyard] In German – Das Tor (Unionsverlag, 2004) and French – L’impasse de bab essaha (Flammarion, 1998)

72. [Tharwat Abaza] Translated as A Touch of Fear (General Egyptian Book Organization, 1992)

73. [Tahar Wattar] In French – L’as (Temps Actuel,1983)

74. [Mohamed Zafzaf ] As you point out, in Spanish – La mujer y la rosa (Agencia española de cooperación internacional, 1997)

75. [Rachid Boudjedra] As you point out, in French – Les 1001 années de la nostalgie (Denoël, 1979)

86. [Mohammad Ezzeddine Tazi] His story “Myth of North” in anthology Sardines and Oranges

89. [Zahwar Wanissi] Story La descente in Nouvelles arabes du Maghreb (as Zehour Ounissi)

92. [Jamil Atiyah Ibrahim] Also his The Child and the King (ProQuest LLC, 2008)

95. [Abdul Karim Ghalib] His Le passé enterré (Publisud, 1990) in French
97. I am guessing Lily Osseiran is Leila Osseiran. Qalaat al Osta is available in French as La citadelle d’osta.
102. [Mohamed Al Aroussi Al  Matuie] In Spanish as Las moras amargas (Agencia española de cooperación internacional, 1996)

103. [Abdulla Khalifa] His Lune solitaire (Non-lieu, 2006) in French