November 2014: Global Arab and Arabic Literary Events Calendar

A global list of events that feature Arab or Arabic literature in some sort of translation. This is just the start at November’s list; please email with events or add them below:

November 1

Al Ain Reads (Al Ain, UAE)
Fair continues through Nov. 2. More here.

November 2

‘House of My Father’: A New Play by Carmen Nasr (London, England)

Part of the ongoing Nour Festival. More here.

November 3

Novelist Sayed Kashua at Boston University (Boston, USA)

There will be two events — one in the afternoon and one in the evening — featuring Palestinian-Israeli writer and TV producer Sayed Kashua. More here.

Novelist Amir Tag El Sir Speaks About “Issues of Arabic Novel Writing” (Muharraq, Bahrain)

From 8 to 9:30 p.m. More here.

November 4

Italian-Algerian author Amara Lakhous visits Cornell (Ithaca, USA)

According to Cornell: “Algerian-Italian novelist Amara Lakhous, author of the 2014 New Student Reading Project selection, “Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio,” will deliver a lecture, “Immigration as a Gift, the Gift of Immigration,” Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 4:30 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. A reception will follow at 6 p.m. at the A.D. White House. He will also visit with students and faculty on Nov. 5.” More here.

“Where is World Literature?” (Abu Dhabi, UAE)

The judges of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 “discuss the meaning of a term coined to cover contemporary developments in fiction and the changing map of literature.” Includes Arabic literature specialist Wen-Chin Ouyang, More here.

November 5

Opening of “Language: The Beacon of Culture and Thought Conference” (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)

Sessions on “texts and counter-texts of enculturation in Algerian literautre,” “the cultural aspect of translation,” translation of idioms, culture transfer on the screen, the use of dialect in Arabic Algerian literature and more. Continues through Nov. 6. More here.

Opening of the Sharjah International Book Fair (Sharjah, UAE)

The fair runs through Nov. 15. More here.

November 6

Lecture on Candygirl by Author and Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik (Cairo, Egypt)

From 1-2 p.m., “The Freshman Program will host Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States and author of candygirl, Mohamed Tawfik, as he delivers a public lecture to discuss how engaging with fictional worlds depends on the individual reader: on one’s knowledge and ability to interpret, as well as the willingness to let oneself into the story. Tawfik will share his love for storytelling, cultural identity and citizenship. He will also discuss how cultural diplomacy can strengthen cross-cultural communication. ” More here.

Last Day of Beirut’s Francophone Book Fair (Beirut, Lebanon)

Events with local and global writers. More here.

Boualem Sansal: ‘Harraga’ Book Launch (London, England)

Boualem Sansal, author of An Unfinished Business, comes from Algeria to talk about his new book translated by Frank Wynne, Harraga. Chaired by Boyd Tonkin. More here.

November 8

Librarians and Archivists with Palestine present Susan Abulhawa, author of ‘Mornings in Jenin’ (New York City, USA)

The launch event for the One Book, Many Communities campaign. More here.

Syrian novelist Nihad Sirees on The Silence and the Roar (Il Silenzio e il Tumulto) (Pisa, Italy)

Part of the Pisa Book Festival. More here.

Liz Lochhead and Abla Oudeh Read from A Bird is Not a Stone (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Part of the Annual Fundraising Day in aid of Scottish Medical Aid for Palestinians 2014. More here.

November 10

Tahrir Plays and Performance Texts: Politics, Aesthetics, Translation (New York City, USA)

A panel, chaired by Carol Martin, series editor of the forthcoming anthology Tahrir Plays and Performance Texts from the Egyptian Revolution, and featuring the volume’s editors and translators, Mohammed Albakry and Rebekah Maggor. The event includes a staged reading of one works in the collection delineating the role, the work, and the concerns of women during the revolution in Egypt, a monodrama,They Say Dancing Is a Sin, conceived in collaboration with Hani Abdel Nasser and written by Mohamed Abdel Mu’iz.. More here.

November 11

International Symposium on Comparative Literature at the University of Cairo (Cairo, Egypt)

Through the 13th. More here.

November 13

Translator Jonathan Wright and poet Amjad Nasser (London, England)

As part of the Nour Festival. More here.

November 15

Laila Soliman’s “Whims of Freedom” at the Voicing Resistance Festival (Berlin, Germany)

At the Gorky Theatre. More here.

Arab Science Fiction: From Imagination to Innovation (London, England)

Part of the ongoing Nour Festival. More here.

November 16

Laila Soliman’s “Whims of Freedom” at the Voicing Resistance Festival (Berlin, Germany)

At the Gorky Theatre. More here.

November 18

Readings from Nael Eltoukhy’s Women of Karantina (Cairo, Egypt)

From the AUCP: “The AUC Press invites you to a book signing and author reading from Women of Karantina, a novel byNael Eltoukhy. Tuesday, 18 November 2014, 7pm at Diwan Bookstore, Zamalek.” More here.

Readings from ‘Syria Speaks’ (London, England)

Part of the ongoing Nour Festival. Includes creative dramaturgy by Alia Alzougbi. More here.

Laila Soliman’s “Whims of Freedom” at the Festival Politik im freien Theater (Freiberg, Germany)

At the Theater im Marienbad. More here.

November 22

Opening Day of the Annual MESA Conference (Washington, D.C., USA)

The conference will run until Nov. 25. More here.

November 25

The Unmanly Man: Figurations of the Eunuch in the Works of Al-Jahiz (Beirut, Lebanon)

“The works of the polyhistor al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/869) contain probably the earliest description of eunuchs in classical Arabic literature.” More here.

November 28

Anna Della Subin Talks Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Ahl al Kahf and Albert Cossery’s Laziness in the Fertile Valley (Marrakesh, Morocco)

According to Anna Della, “ It will look at how the two Egyptian authors took on notions of political awakenings (the Nahda) and sleep—as resistance— in their work. It will also explore al-Hakim’s source of inspiration for the play—the Surat al-Kahf and the Christian legend of the seven sleepers of Ephesus. “6pm at Café Clock, Marrakech. More here.