Shortlist Announced for Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize
Today, the Bait AlGhasham DarArab International Translation Prize announced its 2026 shortlists in three categories: Translators, Authors, and Omani Publications.
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Posts by Marcia Lynx Qualey:
Books as Breath: Gaza’s Living Story
Salah and Abdullah’s small bookshop in Nuseirat is a testament to the power of literature. A model of Palestinian endurance.
Translating Arabic Polyglossia
In this “BETWEEN TWO ARABIC TRANSLATORS” conversation, Yasmeen Hanoosh and Jonathan Wright discuss Wright’s start in literary translation, its divergence from the sort of translation he practiced as a journalist, and his ideas about what he calls Arabic polyglossia.
Classic Short Fiction: al-Irani’s The Last Bullet
A classic short story by Palestinian writer Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani in which wealthy men in Amman tell a Palestinian waiter he should be happy.
International Prize for Arabic Fiction Announces 2026’s 16-book Longlist
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction today announced 2026’s judges and 16-book longlist.
On ‘Fighting Ideological Fantasy with Fiction’
Several authors who contributed short stories to the collection spoke about their thoughts on the collapse of time, historical continuities and the notion of fighting ideological fantasy with fiction.
Shrinking Language, Bursting Memory
“Under siege, time is stolen piece by piece, and language shrinks to match the narrow space it is allowed. People abandon long sentences because every additional word must justify the power it consumes, the battery it drains, the risk it takes in that particular minute.”
Listening to Voices with Hoda Barakat
This is part of an interview with the Lebanese author Hoda Barakat that took place on September 30 2025. It has been translated from French and edited for clarity and length. You can also listen to the BULAQ episode based on this interview, in which we also discuss Barakat’s unique life journey and works.
In Translation: Blurring the Line Between the Real and the Ludicrous
This December 15, Dar Arab is set to publish Belal Fadl’s The Completely True Tales of Um Mimi and Shari The Adulterer, brought to English by first-time translator Osama Hammad. This darkly humorous coming-of-age is set in a grittily, over-the-top, darkly funny 1990s Cairo. It was originally published in Arabic in 2021 and longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2022. Here, Hammad talks about how he came to translate this novel, the challenges of translating humor, and what makes this novel so special.