Meanwhile, I’ll have to content myself with the table of contents. As you’d expect, Arabic Booker-shortlisted Habib Selmi is in evidence (you can read his The Scents of Marie-Claire in English courtesy of AUC Press), but most of the other authors are lesser-known.
On Facebook, MLA Division on Arabic Literature comments:
New Banipal issue is devoted to Tunisian Literature–a nice gesture, but is that really it? Is that Tunisian literature? (Anyhow, let’s just say, it’s better than nothing)
I suppose most of the Tunisian authors (Leila Marouane, Abdelwahab Meddeb) I know write in French.
The issue also includes poetry by Adonis (good choice, just in case he gets that Nobel tomorrow); an excerpt from Rafik Schami’s latest novel, The Calligrapher’s Secret, which either just appeared in English or is forthcoming momentarily; and an excerpt from Iraqi author Fadhil Al-Azzawi’s The Traveller and the Innkeeper, which I would very much like to see.
Coming soon-ish to a postal station near me.
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Banipal would also like to invite you to a Tunisian Literature Panel Discussion at Frankfurt Book Fair, set for October 10 from 11:30-12:30. Participants include Habib Selmi, Nouri Obaid, and Walid Soliman.