The team at ArabLit.org is excited to announce the next phase of an upgrade. Following the website’s newly streamlined design, led by former managing editor, Wiam al-Tamami, we will now be making some changes to the type of content we publish, how we solicit work, and the frequency with which this site is updated.
We’ve been gradually moving away from daily updates, and this will now continue, as we focus on curating content that is richer and broader in scope. We will still publish some news-related posts, but with an emphasis on reflecting on the events in question, such as feature-length obituaries and opinion pieces considering the relative merits of book awards.
We would love to broaden the scope of the topics we tackle, through showcasing a variety of new formats. We are keen to see more hybrid and experimental Arabic literary work, and a focus on form. This can also be an opportunity to encourage dialogue beyond borders, be it geographic or genre-based. We hope to extend the conversation about what literature itself is, including, for instance, by exploring the way language and translation are used in film and multimedia.
We will continue to provide a platform for literary writers in Arabic, to help their work reach new audiences, to help readers discover new favorites, and to find effective ways to encourage the dissemination of literary work through translation.
But we also want to explore the challenges faced across the book ecosystem – by translators, agents, publishers, or journals, and organizations that amplify and support the work of authors writing in Arabic. There will be new resources added to the website, which will aim to open up the conversation and make connections.
We also invite early-career writers and translators to submit work, and we will be happy to work with them to develop their pieces for the website, offering a longer timescale for publication than regular submissions.
While we are currently unable to offer compensation, contributors will receive free digital access to ArabLit Quarterly and a 50% discount on an issue of the magazine.
Submissions guidelines:
We continue to invite submissions of newly translated literary works of Arabic literature, along with the following formats (as reflecting on/in Arabic literature):
- Features
- Opinion pieces
- Interviews with writers, translators of Arabic literature, or other industry professionals
- Essays on the craft of translation
- Translated essays on the literary craft
- Listicles with a fresh new angle (i.e. 8 great novels set at sea; 6 poetry collections with a focus on animal cognition; 5 essays for novice translators)
- Country features (like our recent country features on Sudan, Algeria, and Iraq)
- Special series
- Literary playlists
- Review-essays that incorporate visual media, song, or video
- Ideas for teaching with Arabic literature
- Hybrid, experimental pieces – either in translation, or overlapping genres
- Write-ups on writing groups taking place in Arabic-speaking communities around the world (or a feature on a historical group like the Harafish!)
- Advice and translations of advice to writers or translators of Arabic literature
We are very much open to ideas that are not listed above, so please do get in touch with us on info@arablit.org if you would like to brainstorm a topic before submitting your proposal.
- Please send all submissions through Submittable with the subject header ArabLit website submission: [genre. i.e. fiction/poetry/interview/opinion].
- If the submission is time-sensitive, please indicate that in the subject line.
- Please include your bio and that of the writer you are interviewing/translating, along with confirmation of permission to publish the work.
We are a small team reading through submissions, so please do bear with us! You should receive confirmation of receipt, but please allow at least three weeks before following up on your submission.
Thank you for all your support over the past years and we’re excited to hear from you!
Nashwa Nasreldin, Managing Editor ArabLit.org
Marcia Lynx Qualey, Founding Editor ArabLit.org & ArabLit Quarterly
Leonie Rau, Assistant Editor ArabLit.org & ArabLit Quarterly