On BULAQ: Reflections on Twenty Years

This episode of the BULAQ podcast asks: What has changed in the last twenty years in Arabic literature, publishing and translation? What has not?

Major Arabic book prizes like the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) were founded twenty years ago. These were followed by a number of other shifts: the globalization of regional book fairs, the founding of many other book prizes (particularly in GCC countries), the ever-increasing role of digital books and media.

In this episode, BULAQ talks to five winners of the SZBA — Ibtisam Barakat, Marina Warner, Maria Dadouch, Said Khatibi, and Hooda Shawa –about the personal consequences of winning such a big prize, about how the Arabic literary landscape has changed in the last 20 years, and what else needs to be done to support Arabic literary production in the future.

You can listen to the episode here, or on your favorite podcast app, and read more of the five authors’ responses at arablit.org/20years