Golan Haji’s ‘The Same Silence’
2021-03-08
A spider thread / fastens your heart / to the book of flesh.Continue Reading
A Talk with Poet Golan Haji: ‘Languages Never Draw Geographical Boundaries’
2021-12-22
” Jaziri wrote poetry with one set of alphabets which at that time were used in four languages: Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Sometimes, he used the four languages in one couplet. His poems are still recited and sung by Kurds. That coexistence of languages was quite natural, the alluring music was convincing, although I sometimes understood almost nothing.”Continue Reading
For IWD: 16 Works by Women Poets Writing in Arabic
2023-03-09
“Maybe they are marginalized, so they have more opportunity to think, to write.”Continue Reading
Friday Finds: Poet Golan Haji in Four Languages
2019-11-22
You thinned your pain. / Tu as poli ta douleur. / Du hast deinen Schmerz verschmälert. Continue Reading
On Why Women’s Poetry in Arabic is Where It’s At
2021-08-02
“For me, actually, I think we are impacted by male writers who are writing now, and they are writing about broken masculinity, which I don’t like either. So maybe women are free of this, relatively. Maybe they are marginalized, so they have more opportunity to think, to write.”Continue Reading
Fatma Qandil’s ‘Empty Cages’ Wins 2022 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature
2022-12-11
Qandil, who dedicated the award to Arab women writers, said that winning this prize proves that her long journey with writing “was not in vain.” Continue Reading
Friday Finds: ‘Who Are You Without People?’
2021-04-16
“Don’t say such foolish things about people.”Continue Reading
New Bilingual ‘Barjeel Poetry Prize’ Launches Today
2020-08-15
The Barjeel Art Foundation today launches the Barjeel Poetry Prize, an international two-language ekphrastic poetry competition that invites writers to respond to twenty works of Arab art from the 20th century.Continue Reading
Women Writing in Arabic: 10 Poets to Read Now
2020-08-27
“There is very little Arabic poetry by women translated to English; for Women in Translation Month (#WiTMonth), we offer a brief look at ten poets. Of the women writers listed — an eclectic list of personal favorites and by no means canon — only one, Iman Mersal, has a collection traditionally published in English translation”Continue Reading
