‘A Plot in the Making’
New short fiction by the relentlessly creative Palestinian writer Nasser Rabah.
Fiction
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.
Short Fiction in Translation: ‘Child’s Tears’ by Yasmeen Hanoosh
“Even language began to fade. The family forgot the words for their old routines and couldn’t replace them with new ones fast enough.”
Classic Short Fiction: Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani’s ‘My Secret Picture’
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
From Zuhair Al Hiti’s ‘A Nest of Embers’
This is the story of Zafaran, a young man trying to escape the labels slapped on Sabeans, who leaves Baghdad hoping to find freedom in a small village. Yet, as soon as he arrives, he is recognized as the “Sabean,” and his life takes a new turn, such that he not only faces the myths about Sabeans but the village’s inner darkness.
Najati Sidqi: ‘The Millionaire Communist’
This sharply satirical short story, published in Sidqi’s 1962 short-story collection of the same name, is a satire that follows the story of a real-life fellow Arab Communist from Haifa who returned from Russia and got rich profiteering off a war-relief charity.
Classic Short Fiction: ‘Deducted from Official Budgetary Sources’
A classic office farce from Al-Sahhar’s collection “Being a Civil Servant,” published in 1944.
From Saga Hamdan’s ‘Red Light’
This is part of a longer story, “Maryam,” (2022) by Palestinian author Saga Hamdan.
New Short Fiction: Badar Salem’s ‘The Scent That Followed’
Everything was fine — until she read that story.