A Look Back at ArabLit: March 2026
~March 2026~
Particular thanks this month to editors & contributors Ghada Alatrash, Allison Armijo, Fadi Azzam, Leonie Böttiger, Amr El-Zawawy, Danae Fonseca, Yasmeen Hanoosh, Emma Hardy, Sawad Hussain, Ibtihal Rida Mahmood, Tugrul Mende, Mennan Salih.
In March, the regional literary landscape tilted as the Israel- and the US-led coalition widened the scope of its war of aggression. More than a thousand Lebanese died and more than a million were displaced under relentless Israeli bombardment, affecting writers, editors, and publishers along with all other Lebanese; Israeli attacks on Gaza also continued to kill and displace Palestinians. In the Gulf, two big book fairs — the Muscat International Book Fair and the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair — both announced they were postponing until further notice in the wake of Iranian airstrikes. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is set to be announced online on April 9, 2026, rather than in person in Abu Dhabi.
Lynn Gaspard, publisher of Saqi Books, writes, in this context, about publishing across fault lines.
New books & magazine issues
Several planned publications arrived this month: Syria: Fall of Eternity, ed. Ghada Alatrash and Fadi Azzam, a 300-page anthology of Syrian art and literature; Songs for Darkness, a novel by Iman Humaydan Yunis, tr. Michelle Hartman, out from Interlink Books; The Raven of Ruwi and Other Stories from Oman, by Hamoud Saud, tr. Zia Ahmed, with a foreword Jokha Alharthi; and two novels translated by Addie Leak: Mariam, It’s Arwa, by Areej Gamal and A Mask the Color of the Sky, by Bassem Khandaqji.
ArabLit also wrapped up online publication of Emile Habiby’s The Six-Day Sextet, translated by the Invisible Dragoman collective, which appeared in six installments. You can read all six parts online.
Prize announcements
Katharine Halls’ translation of Shady Lewis’s On the Greenwich Line was shortlisted for the 2026 James Tait Black Prize, and the picture book Who Am I, by Qais Hinti, ill. Esraa Hedery (published by Al Salwa Books in Jordan) won the nonfiction category at the 2026 BolognaRagazzi Awards.
Notable new publications
The Key, a new publication “focused on high-quality analysis, interviews, essays, reviews and reportage about Palestine” and helmed by Sara Yasin, launched this month.
Fiction from ArabLit and beyond
From Songs for Darkness, by Iman Humaydan, tr. Michelle Hartman
Classic Short Fiction: “The Crown of Disgrace,” by Ameen Rihani, tr. Amr El-Zawawy
From Abu Shalakh, the Chameleon, by Ghazi Algosaibi, tr. Mohammad H. Alanazi
From I Resist the River’s Course, by Saïd Khatibi, tr. Alex Elinson
An excerpt from Sinan Antoon’s new novel, Of Loss and Lavender, tr. the author (on Jadaliyya)
Poetry in translation
“Scream,” by Bassma Sheikho, tr. tr. Alice Holttum and Maisaa Tanjour – from SYRIA: Fall of Eternity.
“Till my End and Till Its End,” by Mahmoud Darwish, tr. Marilyn Hacker
“Death in Six Images,” by Maha Al Aswad, tr. Sara Elkamel
“Who Am I?” by Ramzi Salem, tr. the author
Nonfiction from ArabLit and beyond
“The Silent Night-Dwellers of Damascus,” by Samar Yazbek, tr. Alice Holttum and Maisaa Tanjour – from SYRIA: Fall of Eternity.
“Publishing from the Fault Line,” by Lynn Gaspard
“Better Than Berlin,” by Alaa Alqaisi (on The Berlin Review)
Interviews
Translating Noir: On ‘The End of Sahara’: In conversation with Alex Elinson
In Conversation: Songs as Memory, as Solidarity, as Resistance: Emma Hardy in conversation with Iman Humaydan and Michelle Hartman
Samar Yazbek on Redefining Collective Memory: In conversation with Olivia Snaije
On the Field of Arabic Studies, a conversation between Jonas Elbousty and Roger Allen
Book reviews
“Memories of Diminishment,” Ibtihal Rida Mahmood on Samar Yazbek’s Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices from Gaza
‘Between Two Arabic Translators’
Translation and Solidarity in Times of Imperial Mass Violence, a conversation between Yasmeen Hanoosh and Elliott Colla
News
Announcing Publication Day for SYRIA: Fall of Eternity
Online Summer Arabic Translation Workshop Open for Applications
On ARABLITe
Rasha Omran, versos entre la plenitud y la catástrofe
Donde habita la memoria: poesía palestina de Olivia Elias
From our monthly publishing newsletter
This month’s newsletter for publishing professionals was written and produced by Mohammad H. Alanazi, who gave us an overview of the Saudi publishing landscape. You can sign up for the monthly newsletter for publishing professionals here.
From our weekly poetry newsletter
Mennan Salih, editor of our weekly poetry newsletter, commented on poems by Jawdat Fakhreddine, Babiker al-Wasila, Hoda Omran, and Heba al-Agha. You can sign up for the poetry newsletter here.
From our “opportunities for Arabic<–>English translators'” newsletter
This month, we shared new opportunities from the newly launched David Bellos Prize, the Cambridge Journal of Literary Translation, the Africa Institute’s Global Africa Translation Fellowship, and a free online summer Arabic translation workshop. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
From our YouTube channel
Our YouTube channel featured a discussion on Songs for Darkness with author Iman Humaydan and translator Michelle Hartman. Find the videos here.