Banipal 44: 12 Women Writers

I haven’t yet seen the magazine, just the cover and the introduction. But Banipal editor Samuel Shimon says in his introduction:

The new Banipal 44 celebrates 12 women writers, with four short stories and eight chapters of novels, all writing eloquently and forcefully on human issues such as loss, identity, personal awakening, migration, exile, being black in the Arab world, prejudice, dealing with prison and discrimination, travel and local customs.

Faces on the front, of course, include celebrated authors like British-Sudanese author Leila Aboulela (longlisted for the Orange Prize, winner of the Caine), Egyptian novelist Mansoura Ezz Eldin (shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction), Lebanese author Renee Hayek (longlisted for the IPAF), and others.

Also, congratulations to…

…Inas Abbasi, who was cited in a writing contest judged by Syrian novelist Khaled Khalifa, and has been published in a dual Arabic-Danish edition called A New Day’s Clarity: Young Arab Voices. Other winning entrants, invited to participate in this year’s Copenhagen International Literature Festival, are Mauritanian short story writer Elhadj Ould Brahim, Palestinian poet Samar Abd Al Jaber, and Syrian short story writer Aram Tahhan.

Of course, congratulations to all, and follow Ali Znaidi over at Tunisian Literature (in English) for more on the world of Tunisian letters.