Published in 2022: Arabic Literature in Translation

By ArabLit Staff

This year, we have lists of literary works translated from Arabic to English, to German, to Portuguese, and to Malayalam. Thanks to the volunteers who assembled these lists; they may not be comprehensive.

Translated from Arabic to English

Short-story collections

The Monotonous Chaos of Existence, by Hisham Bustani, tr. maia tabet (Mason Jar Press)

Blood Feast: The Complete Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf, by Malika Moustadraf, tr. Alice Guthrie (Feminist Press, Saqi Books)

Animals in Our Days, Mohamed Makhzangi, tr. Chip Rossetti (Syracuse University Press)

Out of Time: The Collected Short Stories of Samira Azzam, by Samira Azzam, tr. Ranya Abdelrahman (ArabLit Books)

Poetry collections

You Can Be the Last Leaf, Maya Abu al-Hayyat, tr. Fady Joudah

Agitated Air: Poems After Ibn Arabi, by translator-poets Yasmine Seale and Robin Moger (Tenement Press)

The Threshold, by Iman Mersal, tr. Robyn Creswell (FSG)

The Stone Serpent by Nouri Al-Jarrah, tr. Catherine Cobham (Banipal Books)

Novels

Bread and Tea: The Story of a Man from Karak, by Ahmad Tarawneh, tr. Nesreen Akhtarkhavari (Michigan State University Press)

Ibn Arabi’s Small Death, by Mohammed Hasan Alwan, tr. William Hutchins (University of Texas Press)

The Men Who Swallowed the Sun : A Novel, Hamdi Abu Golayyel, tr. Humphrey Davies (Hoopoe)

Solitaire: A Novel, by Hassouna Mosbahi, tr. William Maynard Hutchins

Mr N, by Najwa Barakat, tr. Luke Leafgren

Bitter Orange Tree, by Jokha Alharthi, tr. Marilyn Booth

Cry in a Long Night, by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, tr. William Tamplin (Darf Books)

Flowers in Flames, by Amir Tag Elsir, tr. Raphael Cohen (Darf Books)

Sons of the People: The Mamluk Trilogy, by Reem Bassiouney, tr. Roger Allen

Things I Left Behind, by Shada Mustafa, tr Nancy Roberts (Banipal Books)

The Turban and the Hat, by Sonallah Ibrahim, tr. Bruce Fudge (Seagull Books)

The Night Will Have Its Say, by Ibrahim al-Koni, tr. Nancy Roberts (Hoopoe)

The King of India by Jabbour Douaihy, tr. Paula Haydar (Interlink)

No Windmills in Basra, by Diaa Jubaili, tr. Chip Rossetti (Deep Vellum)

No One Prayed Over Their Graves, by Khaled Khalifa, tr. Leri Price (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux)

The Book of Queens, by Joumana Haddad, tr. by the author (Interlink)

he Drowning, by Hammour Ziada, tr. Paul Starkey (Interlink)

Firefly, by Jabbour Douaihy, tr. by Paula Haydar and Nadine Sinno (Seagull)

The Bird Tattoo, by Dunya Mikhail, tr. Dunya Mikhail (Simon & Schuster)

The Bookseller’s Notebooks, by Jalal Barjas, tr. Paul G. Starkey (Interlink)

The Dispersal, by Inaam Kachachi, tr. Inam Jaber (Interlink)

Waiting for the Past, by Hadiya Hussein, tr. Barbara Romaine (Syracuse University Press)

The Secret of the Morisco, by Mohammed AlAjmi, tr. Christiaan James (Dar al-Arab)

Classics

Kalīlah and Dimnah, by Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, edited by Michael Fishbein, translated by Michael Fishbein and James E. Montgomery (Library of Arabic Literature)

Love, Death, Fame: Poetry and Lore from the Emirati Oral Tradition by al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir, edited and translated by Marcel Kurpershoek (Library of Arabic Literature)

The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism by ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, edited and translated by Mohammed Rustom (Library of Arabic Literature)

Nonfiction

The Story of the Banned Book: Naguib Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley by Mohamed Shoair, tr. Humphrey Davies (American University in Cairo Press)

Among the Almond Trees, by Hussein Barghouti, tr. Ibrahim Muhawi (Seagull)

The Blue Light, by Hussein Barghouthi, tr. Fady Joudah (Seagull)

War and Me, by Faleeha Hassan, tr. William Hutchins (Amazon Crossing)

On Zionist Literature, by Ghassan Kanafani, tr. by Mahmoud Najib (Ebb)

What Have You Left Behind?, by Bushra al-Maqtari, tr. Sawad Hussain (Fitzcarraldo)

Books for Young Readers

What Shall We Play Now? by Taghreed Najjar, illustrated by Charlotte Shama, translated by Taghreed Najjar (Interlink)

Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story, written and illustrated by Malak Mattar, translated from Arabic by Interlink staff (Interlink)

Thunderbird: Book One, by Sonia Nimr. tr. M Lynx Qualey (University of Texas Press)

Thunderbird: Book Two, by Sonia Nimr, tr. M Lynx Qualey (University of Texas Press)

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Translated from Arabic to German

Thanks to Leonie Rau

Halb Vogel bin ich, halb Baum. Gedichte arabisch-deutsch, by Umar Abdul Nasser, tr. Kerstin Wilsch and Leila Chammaa (Schiler & Mücke)

Paradise, by Sabah Sanhouri, tr. Christine Battermann (Schiler & Mücke)

Gedichte aus Guantánamo, ed. Sebastian Köthe, tr. Sandra Hetzl and Kerstin Wilsch (Matthes & Seitz)

Der Schamaya-Palast (Qasr Shama’aya), by Ali Al-Kurdi, tr. Larissa Bender (Wallstein)

Keiner betete an ihren Gräbern (Lam yusalli ‘alayhim ahad), by Khaled Khalifa, tr. Larissa Bender (Rowohlt)

Eine Nebensache (Tafsil Thanawi), by Adania Shibli, tr. Günther Orth (Berenberg)

Unser Haus dem Himmel so nah (Sama’ qariba min baytina), by Shahla Ujayli, tr. Christine Battermann (Kupido)

Ein Mädchen namens Wien (Sa’arsum najma ‘ala jabeen Fiyena), by Sahar Mandûr (Mandour), tr. Hartmut Fähndrich (edition faust)

Kleine Festungen. Geschichten über arabische Kinder und Jugendliche, chosen and translated by Hartmut Fähndrich (edition faust) [a collection of 50 literary texts about the life of children and adolescents in the Arab world]

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Translated from Arabic to Malayalam

Thanks to S.A. Qudsi

Malayalam title: Shalabha Jeevitham

Arabic title: Hayatul Farashat (Novel)

by Yousuf Fadel

tr by Dr. Shamnad

pub: Green Books, Thrissur, Kerala, India

*

Malayalam title: Miramar

Arabic title: Miramar

by Naguib Mahfouz

Tr: Dr. Shamnad

Pub: Green Books, Thrissur, Kerala

*

Malayalam title: Mittayi theruvu

Arabic title: Al Sukkariyya

By: Naguib Mahfouz

Translation: Dr..Shamnad

Publ: Green Books, Thrissur, Kerala

*

Malayalam title: Nhan Nashtappeduthukayilla (Omani Children’s Literature)

by Dr.Wafa Al Shamsi

tr by: Dr.U.P.Mohammed Abid

Pub: Farook College Publications, Calicut, Kerala, India

*

50 Modern Palestine Stories-Book 1

Malayalam title: Ninnunangunna Marangal (Trees Stand Dying, the title of a story by Abdullah Tayeh)

Tr by S.A.Qudsi

Pub: Book Plus, Chemmad, Malappuram District, Kerala

*

Malayalam title: Madhura Narakam

Arabic title: Narinjah

by Jokha Alharthi (Oman-Novel) 

pub by Olive Publications, Calicut, Kerala

*

Malayalam title: Nilavinte Pennungal

Arabic title: Sayyidat al Qamar

by Jokha Alharthi (Oman-Novel)

tr by Ibrahim Badsha Wafi

Pub: Olive Publications, Calicut, Kerala

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Translated from Arabic to Portuguese

Thanks to Felipe Benjamin Francisco

O pequeno lampião (The little lantern), by Ghassan Kanafani, tr. Michel Sleiman (Editora Tabla)

Crianças do gueto: Meu nome é Adam (The children of the ghetto: My name is Adam), by Elias Khoury, tr. Safa Jubran (Editora Tabla)

O tumor (The tumour), by Ibrahim al-Koni, tr. Mamede Jarouche (Editora Tabla)

Gaza, terra da poesia (Gaza, land of poetry), org. Muhammad Taysir, collective translation edited by Michel Sleiman and Safa Jubran (Editora Tabla)

Gente, isso é Londres (Only in London), by Hanan Al-Shaykh, tr. Jemima Alves (Editora Tabla)

A tatuagem de pássaro (The bird tattoo), by Dunya Mikhail, tr. Beatriz Gemignani (Editora Tabla)

Marraquexe noir (Marrakesh noir), ed. Yassin Adnan, tr. Felipe Benjamin Francisco (Editora Tabla).

Relatos da China e da Índia (Accounts of China and India), by Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, tr. Pedro Martins Criado(Editora Tabla).

Os passarinhos coloridos de Adel (Adel’s colored birds), by Fatima Sharafeddine, tr. Maria Carolina Gonçalves (Editora Tabla).

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