An Excerpt from Falah Raheem’s ‘Hedgehogs on a Hot Day’
In a recent interview, we asked Iraqi writer Duna Ghali which Iraqi writers she recommends; she pointed us to Falah Raheem, whose Hedgehogs on a Hot Day was published to great acclaim […]
Fiction
New Short Fiction: ‘Holy Wednesday’
As this is a novelette, some readers may prefer to read on a tablet, in PDF or epub form. It’s available free on the ArabLit store. Holy Wednesday By Mahmoud […]
From Duna Ghali’s ‘Orbits of Loneliness’
A few years ago, when we asked Egyptian novelist Miral al-Tahawy for a favorite book in Arabic by a woman writer, she said, “Truth is, there is a long list […]
An Excerpt from Najem Wali’s ‘My Romantic Aunt’
Najem Wali’s 2024 novel My Romantic Aunt, published by Rewayat, follows a man’s relationship with his boundary-breaking aunt. From ‘My Romantic Aunt: Her friends, Her Relationships, and Me’ By Najem Wali […]
An Excerpt of Abdulaziz al-Saqabi’s ‘A Drop of Alcohol’
In Abdulaziz al-Saqabi’s A Drop of Alcohol, the search for an absent brother turns into a journey of self-discovery. A Drop of Alcohol By Abdulaziz al-Saqabi Translated by Lily Sadowsky Chapter One “Who […]
An Excerpt from Walid Saif’s ‘Where the Two Seas Meet’
Walid Saif’s Where the Two Seas Meet was published in 2018 by Al Dar Al Ahlia. The narrative follows the clash of two thirteenth-century titans, the two titular “seas.” The book […]
Early 20th Century Short Fiction in Translation: Muhammad Taymour’s ‘A Boy Who Became a Man’
This short story originally appeared in Muhammad Taymour’s collection What the Eyes Can See (1922), and this story was written in 1917. It recounts events in the life a fictional […]
New Short Fiction: Bahaa Taher’s ‘I Did Not Know Peacocks Could Fly’
This short story comes from a collection of the same name, لم أعرف أن الطواويس تطير, by the late Bahaa Taher (1935-2022). I Did Not Know Peacocks Could Fly By […]
An Excerpt from ‘The Feathers,’ a Novel by Salim Barakat
Salim Barakat’s unique novel The Feathers has been translated into French, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Kurdish, Turkish and soon Persian, but not yet into English. Thus far in English, there has been […]