Calling You, Calling All Literary Baghdads
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) is calling for submissions — with a deadline of March 15 — to a new anthology that will explore, (re)create, and celebrate literary Baghdad.
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Major New Arabic Ebookstore Could Be Publishing Game-changer
Kotobi.Com, a major new Arabic ebookstore, launched at the end of this year’s Cairo International Book Fair. Managing Director Ashraf Maklad discussed the project’s challenges and opportunities, and what hurdles still need to be cleared.
‘Voices from the Syrian Tragedy’: Three New Poems
Fawaz Azem has translated three new Syrian poems — one from Dima Yousf and two from Nihad Sayed Issa — all responding, in some way, to the nation’s current landscape.
‘Punk Rock Travel Diary’ of Librarians to Palestine
I may well be the last person to have seen this, as it was posted at the end of last month, but the “Librarians to Palestine” group has a wonderfully charming old-fashioned zine — documenting and illustrating their trip last summer — that they’ve scanned and put online.
Twenty-five Readings to Mark the Seventh Anniversary of Al-Mutanabbi Street Bombing
Beau Beausoleil — founder of the “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here” project — has brought together 25 readings in the US and UK to mark the seventh anniversary of the bombing of Baghdad’s central bookselling street.
On Translating ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah, Perhaps Arabic’s Most Prolific Premodern Woman Writer
Th. Emil Homerin, author of the recently-published The Principles of Sufism, has long been interested in the work of ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah, who is perhaps the most prolific and prominent woman who wrote in Arabic prior to the modern period. Homerin, a professor of religion and former chair of the Department of Religion & Classics at the University of Rochester, previously translated a collection of al-Ba’uniyyah’s poems as Emanations of Grace, and likens her work to that of the famous Persian poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi.
Humphrey Davies on Choosing a Book to Translate: It Must Deal ‘With Things that Matter’
Last month, the AUC Press “Book Alley” discussed “Black Magic” and “Secret Pleasures” with author Hamdy al-Gazzar and translator Humphrey Davies. A video of the event was recently posted on YouTube; al-Gazzar discusses his writing process and personal “red line,” and Davies talks about what sort of books interest him, and what sort of challenges translating presents.
Mediterranya: A Shared Literary Space for Readers and Writers Around the Sea
Mediterranya is a new multilingual literary blog launched by several finalists for the European Institute of the Medterranean (IEMed)’s “Sea of Words” short-story award. Author Eugenio Dacrema answered a few questions about the blog.
Lebanese Poet Ounsi al-Hage, 76
Lebanese poet Ounsi al-Hage died on Tuesday after a long illness. He was 76.