Forthcoming April 2026
As publication dates often slip — and new books surface — we try to have a glance at what’s really (to the best of our knowledge) coming in translation from Arabic at the start of each month. If you have more books to add, please let us know.
The Country Doctor’s Tale, by Mohamed Mansi Qandil, tr. R. Neil Hewison (Syracuse University Press, April 2026)
From the publisher:
In a remote Egyptian village, a young doctor arrives to open a long-abandoned clinic. Recently released from prison for political dissent, he’s been exiled from Cairo to this dusty outpost. As he immerses himself among the myriad ailments of the impoverished villagers, from scorpion stings and boils to the debilitating effects of bilharzia, he is drawn to a young nurse who becomes a trusted companion and provides an emotional refuge from his traumatic past. Farah represents everything the city doctor thinks he wants and offers a chance to rebuild his life. But are her ambitions really in line with his? And if this is love, is redemption certain to follow?
In this absorbing novel, Qandil weaves together forbidden love, political corruption, and the clash between tradition and desire. The doctor’s world expands to include al-Jazya, the queen of a marginalized tribe who sees through his pretensions, and a menacing district chief of police reminding him that no one escapes the reach of authority.
Qandil’s novel evokes the beauties and cruelties of life in a small community on the edge of the Nile as our doctor’s journey takes him through the muddy lanes of the village, the verdant fields of maize, and finally a grim quest in the haunting landscape of the White Desert—all the while struggling with an imperfect moral compass.
Best Literary Translations 2026, ed. Arthur Sze (Deep Vellum, April 2026)
This series is edited by Noh Anothai, Wendy Call, Öykü Tekten & Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún.
From the publisher:
Guest edited by National Book Award winner Arthur Sze, Best Literary Translations 2026 features poetry and prose written in languages both widely spoken and critically endangered, brought into English by some of the most talented translators working today.
Compiled from over 450 submissions written in 62 original languages, the third edition of this groundbreaking annual anthology features a chorus of voices from across the globe. Collecting translated works from French to Xitsonga, Farsi to Korean, Ukrainian to Guaraní, Best Literary Translations 2026 is a vibrant collection of poetry, essays, and short fiction, and hybrid work, each accompanied by a translator’s note reflecting on the discovery, translation, and resonance of the original work. For enthusiasts of literature in translation and newcomers to global literary traditions alike, Best Literary Translations offers a glimpse into essential writing from many corners of the world.
It includes four works translated from Arabic: Rawaa Sonbol’s “Noose Boy,” tr. Katharine Halls; Sahar Rabah’s “The Bullet,” tr. Ammiel Alcalay; an excerpt from Tareq Imam’s Cairo Maquette, tr. Katharine Van de Vate; and Adania Shibli’s “Camouflage,” translated by Max Weiss.
The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, ed. Rabih Alameddine and John Freeman (Penguin, April 2026)
From the publisher:
In The Penguin Book of the International Short Story, writers from different nations, languages, and sensibilities come together in a globe-spanning and long overdue tour of modern fiction. In “Super-Frog Saves Tokyo,” Haruki Murakami brings us a man who believes a giant amphibian is enlisting him to protect his city from an impending earthquake. In “War of the Clowns,” Mozambique’s Mia Couto sketches a perfect allegory for our divided culture. In the predecessor story to her iconic novel The Vegetarian, Han Kang depicts a protagonist quietly undergoing an unlikely transformation. A Colm Tóibín character thinks, “I do not even believe in Ireland,” while Carol Bensimon reflects from Brazil, “All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point.” Salman Rushdie brings us to unsettled rural India, Olga Tokarczuk to an ugly woman exhibit at the circus, Abdellah Taïa to the queer Arab world, Ted Chiang to a far-off galaxy.
The United States is far from the center of the literary universe. This anthology is reminiscent of iconic director Bong Joon Ho’s line about overcoming “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” to enter a new world of film—the work of thoughtful and accomplished translators opens the door wide for those curious about what lies beyond the Western canon and classroom. Writers from six continents, ranging from new voices to literary icons, each offer a window into a distinct point of view, both transcending and illuminating their place of origin. They offer not only captivating prose, but a reminder of the power of the imagination across space and time.
It includes two works translated from Arabic: Adania Shibli’s “An Ambitious Good-natured Leftist,” translated by Christopher Stone and ٍRawaa Sonbol’s “Amira Who Knows,” translated by Katharine Halls.