The Writing Life, from Sonallah Ibrahim
Ibrahim’s referring to Al-Talasus, out soon as Stealth from Aflame Books. And my God it’s good. A review of the original here. “I don’t expect anything in return for completing […]
mlynxqualey
About mlynxqualey
Posts by Marcia Lynx Qualey:
Three Saudis on ‘Arabic Booker’ Longlist
That’s the headline from the UAE-based Khaleej Times, and it’s certainly the headline for me, too. I know almost nothing about Saudi literature, except that there have been a number […]
Arab Lit in English: A Little or a Lot?
In a forthcoming interview, translator Humphrey Davies disagrees with assertions that Arab literature is under-translated. He says he wishes that someone would make a list, because “there’s a lot more […]
Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: Ibtisam Abdullah, Ibrahim Ahmed, Shmuel Moreh
The last three stories in Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology all struck me, although not as deeply as Khudayyir, Naqqash, or Shimon. Ibtisam Abdullah’s second story, “The Other in the […]
Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: Samuel Shimon
“The Street Vendor and the Movies,” the next story in the anthology that really hit me, is by Samuel Shimon. It’s excerpted from his An Iraqi in Paris—which I meant […]
Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: Samir Naqqash
The second gem of Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology is Samir Naqqash’s “Tantal.” There is only one story by him in the collection, although it’s a lovely one, about illusionment […]
Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: Muhammad Khudayyir
I have read only the two opening stories of Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology, finally available in Egypt from AUC Press. If all the rest of the pages were blank, […]
Yet more Emirati money for hungry literary tummies…
Eight young Arab authors—six of whom are on the prestigious Beirut 39 list—are currently squirreled away at Sir Baniyas Island, writing a short story or novel chapter and being tutored […]
Gulf puts more money in the literary mouth
In 2008, the Emirates Foundation funded the first “Arabic Booker” literary prize. The Dubai International Poetry Festival 2009 has announced its intentions to revive an ancient Arab literary contest. The […]