On March 11 of next year — at 9 a.m. in Iowa and 5 p.m. in Baghdad — six new works will be performed as part of “Book Wings Iraq,” a three-year-old program sponsored by the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP) that’s previously commissioned work from Russia, China, and the U.S.
I try not to republish many calls for papers, but I found this one over at the Translation Studies Portal and thought it might also be an opportunity to honor Dr. Radwa Ashour. (Note that, if you’re interested in submitting, abstracts are due Dec. 28).
For the shortest day of the year, 12 short-short stories for your reading pleasure.
Just like last year, ArabLit asked a few acclaimed and award-winning authors for their favorite reads of 2013.
Numerous news outlets are reporting that multitalented Mohamed Hussein Bahnas — guitarist, singer, artist, poet, and novelist — died of hunger and exposure on out Cairo’s streets.
ArabLit looks back at some of the big awards, events, and at those who left us in 2013.
Two Arabic book fairs were held at the beginning of December — one in Doha and one in Beirut — and they both reported slow sales. Al-Sharq al-Awsat said that “reports regarding the demise of the Arab-language book are perhaps looking somewhat exaggerated,” although noting that sales have been down for the past three years.
Abu Dhabi-based translator S.A. Qudsi has translated a wide range of Arab authors — Nawal al-Saadawi, Ghada Samman, Naguib Mahfouz, Salwa Bakr, Ghassan Kanafani, Najwa Barakat — into Malayalam. He also translates from English, Indonesian, and Farsi. He answered a few questions about the Arabic-Malayalam relationship for our Arabic Literature, World Readers series.
World Arabic Language Day — singular, in UNESCO’s estimation — isn’t until Dec. 18, but the events begin today. It’s a UN-designated holiday that was designed as an annual celebration to “promote multilingualism and cultural diversity, as well as celebrate Arabic language’s role in and contribution to the safeguarding and dissemination of human civilization and culture.”
