Selected: 10 Arabic Short Stories by Women, in Translation, Online

We can all agree that the “must-read” qualifier is a bit overused. I don’t know if you must read these stories, but you’ll enjoy them:

Three short-story collections by women made my “best of” for 2018: Pearls on a Branch, The Sea Cloak, and Withered Flowers. Unfortunately, none of the stories from Withered Flowers are available online (although I will see if I can beg, borrow, or buy rights somehow), there are a number of other stories to be enjoyed.

Here is a handful of pearls, stitched to a branch:

1. “Pearls on a Branch,” from the collection of folktales Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales, ed. Najlaa Khoury, tr. Inea Bushnaq. (Lebanon)

This gorgeous, subversive, beautifully translated collection — subtitled “Tales from the Arab World Told by Women” — is a must-have for all ages. This story, published on Tin House, opens:

There was or there was not
In olden days that time has lost…
O you who like stories and talk
No story can be pleasing and beautiful,
Without invoking the Almighty, the Merciful.

THERE WAS A KING – there is no sovereign but God – and this king had a daughter. She was his only child and he liked to please her. So when the month for the pilgrimage to Mecca drew near, the king asked his daughter:

Tell me what do you want me to bring you from the Hajj?

2. Rachida el-Charni, “The Way to Poppy Street,” tr Piers Amodia. (Tunisia)

This story — by Tunisian writer Rachida el-Charni — was also selected for the Granta Book of the African Short Story, ed. Helon Habila. I have enjoyed it each time I’ve read it.

She saw him coming towards her, whistling and humming. He stopped in front of her to ask politely if she knew the way to Poppy Street. Not for a moment did she imagine that he would use the second she took to think to snatch her gold necklace and take to his heels.

3. Lena Merhej, “I Think We Will Be Calmer in the Next War,” tr. Merhej. (Lebanon)

This story, by talented Lebanese artist, cartoonist, and graphic novelist Lena Merhej, opens:

You can read both the Arabic and the English of these graphic short stories — or comix — at grandpapier.org.

4. Malika Moustadraf’s “Just Different,” tr. Alice Guthrie. (Morocco)

This story, by the maverick Moroccan short-story writer Malika Moustadraf (1962-2006), opens:

Avenue Mohammed V is silent and desolate this late at night, empty apart from a few stray cats meowing like newborn babies; it’s a creepy sound.

5. Basma al-Nsour’s “Disappointments (and a Few Clarifications),”tr. Andrew Leber (Jordan)

This story, by acclaimed Jordanian short-story writer and attorney Basma al-Nsour, opens:

My life would have been a lot easier if only my grandmother had not been a liar. Or, to put it more nicely, if she hadn’t been so imaginative on that winter night when she convinced me that she would never leave me.

You can also read al-Nsour’s “That Pathetic Woman,” tr. Thoraya El-Rayyes, on ArabLit.

6. Hadiya Hussein’s “The Blizzard,” tr. Srpko Leštarić and Edward Alexander (Iraq) 

7. Rasha Abbas, “The Gist of It,” tr. Alice Guthrie (Syria)

There are also a number of other Rasha Abbas stories online, such as “Statement of Absolute Hatred,” “Falling Down Politely, or How to Use Up All Six Bullets Instead of Playing Russian Roulette,” and “Statement of Absolute Hatred,” all tr. Guthrie.

8. “The Sea Cloak,” by Nayrouz Qarmout, tr. Charis Bredon (Palestine)

A collection for Qarmout’s stories, titled The Sea Cloak and tr. Perween Richards, is forthcoming from Comma Press this May. The story isn’t printed online, but you can listen to it performed by Grazyna Monvid: