12 Participants of Arabic ‘Short Stories Masterclass’ to Read in Frankfurt
For the first time, KfW Stiftung and Goethe-Institut Cairo will host a Short Stories Masterclass between October 11 and 14, culminating with a public reading that comes before two high-profile public discussions:
Starting Monday, October 14 at 4:30 p.m., the twelve participants of the Short Stories masterclass will read their work in Arabic and English translation, with print versions of the stories handed out in both languages.
The project began in 2014 with “Cairo Short Stories,” and continued with editions in Beirut, Jericho, and Ramallah, with workshops directed by award-wining authors Wagdy El Komy, Abbas Khider, Adania Shibli, and Dima Wannous.
Finalists from the previous workshops in Cairo, Beirut, and Jericho were invited to apply for this year’s Frankfurt workshop, which will be led by Palestinian novelist and short-story writer Adania Shibli.
The participants will have their final session Monday morning, including a talk about promoting their work abroad and the process of translation, with the goal of fostering more published translations.
Participants of in the 2019 Frankfurt masterclass:
Salma Alhafi (Latakia)
Widyan Almasarani (Stuttgart)
Asmaa El Shikh (Alexandria)
Ameer Hamad (Jerusalem)
Camellia Hussein (Cairo)
Mai Kaloti (Jerusalem)
Nahla Karam (Cairo)
Ahmed Lotfy Aman (Mansoura)
Abdalmuti I. A. Maqboul (Ramallah)
Esraa Mokaidem (Cairo)
Mira Sidawi (Beirut)
Omaima Sobhi (Cairo)
Their readings will be followed by two discussions, jointly titled “The Politics of Translation: Arabic Literatures in Europe.” In the first, Egyptian novelist Alaa Al Aswany will be in conversation with author, scholar, publisher, and translator Daniel Medin. The second will be structured as a panel that includes publishers Lynn Gaspard and Piero Salabè, translator Elisabeth Jaquette, and author Adania Shibli. It will be moderated by Daniel Medin.
Admission is free, but those who want to attend are asked to register by October 3, 2019 by sending an e-mail to info@kfw-stiftung.de.