In the City of Flies
Published by Dar al-Shorouk in January 2026, Ahmed ʿAbd al-Manʿam Ramadan’s novel “في مدينة الذباب” (In the City of Flies) presents a dystopian vision of a future city overwhelmed by accumulating rubbish and swarms of flies.
Fiction
‘A Taste of Bitter Tea’, by Mohammed Alnaas
The title here is borrowed from the French edition, Un goût de thé amer, which was translated by Sarah Rolfo, while the Arabic original is titled العراك في جهنم. This satirical novella is set in a Libyan village called Hell and is a retelling of events our narrator claims took place there in the 1990s.
Alis al-Bustani’s ‘Sa’iba’ and the Arab Nahda
A Victorian gothic novel and an Ottoman-Arabic context – could such a peculiar combination be the ultimate manifestation of early Nahda production? Sa’iba, Alis al-Bustani’s first and only novel, is a product of Arab modernity, born from the introduction of European literature to the Arab intellectual during the renaissance of the nineteenth century, a context very familiar to the author.
Ansam Abu Sitta’s ‘Behind the Walls’
This short fiction comes from Ansam Abu Sitta’s collection Bench of the Reserves.
The Mouse That Cheated Death
“The Mouse That Cheated Death” is a short story by Qatari writer Huda Al Naemi from her collection “Kaleela and Huda.”
New Short Fiction: ‘Denial Likes Small Activities’
This story comes from Hussein al-Abri’s latest collection, Time Slips Away in the Corner (2026).
Classic Short Fiction from Tunisia: ‘Hajj Zayan’
Mostafa Khraïef (1910-1967) was a prominent Tunisian poet, writer, and journalist.
Short Fiction by Muhammad Khudayyir
A story from the fall of 1983 by the scribe of Basra, Muhammad Khudayyir.
Stealing Sleep, Reclaiming Tomorrow
In the opening pages of The Sleep Thief by Ibtisam Azem (tr. Sinan Antoon), Palestinian protagonist, Gharib Haifawi, recounts how he was dubbed the “sleep thief” by his interrogators during his imprisonment.