BuSSy: ‘With the Censored Parts Left in’
I found a belated report on Cairo’s production of Bussy in Middle East Online, censored on its second performance after audience disapproval. The interesting part came at the end: But […]
July 2010
The Past and Future of Arabic Comics
It’s not unusual that an adult would have a box of old comic books stashed somewhere. But avid Lebanese collector Henry Matthews—who apparently has collected tens of thousands of individual […]
Banipal 38: Arab American Authors
I haven’t yet seen my copy of Banipal 38, which became available mid-July at the reading of three Emirati poets at the London Lit Fest, but one can now read an overview of the issue on Kikah.Com, written by Banipal’s Margaret Obank.
The Trouble with Tareq Imam
Last week, there was quite a flap in the Egyptian literary world as the country’s State Incentive Award went to Tareq Imam’s The Serenity of Killers (Dar Merit)—but then was snatched back on the pretext that Imam had already won a (Sawiris, second-place) award for the book.
Iraqi Art and the Occupation
An Associated Press piece, about the relationship between Iraqi art (mostly visual) and the U.S.-led occupation, has been circulating through world newspapers. (You’ve surely already read it; I’m still traveling […]
Economist: Egypt at 90% Literacy in a Generation?
The Economist has out its new country profile of Egypt, assembled by the knowledgeable Max Rodenbeck, and of course I skipped immediately to the short section on literacy and education.
Cairo’s Mid-July 2010 Bestsellers: YA Tops the List
Please remember that these are only the bestsellers from one bookstore, Kotob Khan, as to my knowledge other bookstores in the region don’t send out bestseller lists, and I don’t think I’m up for collecting and aggregating one myself. (Wouldn’t that involve math?)
I’m Not to Talk About Adania Shibli’s /Touch/
I have begun to despair of my review of Adania Shibli’s lovely Touch ever seeing daylight. (Yes, yes, it will…next issue….) And, as one is not supposed to write about a book before one’s review has seen daylight, I can’t say much about it here.
More on Three Emirati Poets in London (Today)
The National today has a piece about the three Emirati poets participating in the London Literature Festival—Nujoom al Ghanem, Khulood al Mu’alla and Khalid Albudoor—which seemed reason enough for me to explore their work a little more.