19 Short-short Fictions by Fatima as-Sanoussi
Fatima as-Sanoussi is one of the prominent champions of Sudanese flash fiction, having spearheaded the spread and popularity of micro fiction in Sudanese newspapers throughout the 1980s.
Fiction
Excerpt from Mohsine Loukili’s IPAF-shortlisted ‘The Prisoner of the Portuguese’
“From the seven children my father slaughtered in the cellar of our house, I was the sole survivor. Our mother, who could have stood between us and death, died of hunger and sorrow a day before the tragedy.”
Short Fiction: Maheera Migdadi’s ‘Sad Woman’s Mirrors’
She wipes her hand over the mirror like she’s waving goodbye; her drowsy face looks back at her from the blurry glass, reminding her of all the hours she hasn’t slept. It warns of the long day ahead. She’ll be holding her breath for the next twenty-four hours.
From Tareq Imam’s IPAF-shortlisted ‘The Cairo Maquette’
Tareq Imam’s The Cairo Maquette, shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction, explores the lives of three main characters: Uriga, Noud, and Billiards.
New Short Fiction in Translation: Mahmoud Tawfik’s ‘The Mirror’
On the third night of the festival, the writer knocked on his interpreter’s door and said: “I need you to be less passionate when you translate. Something about your voice has been irritating me.”
New Short Fiction: ‘Invisible,’ by Taha Sewedy
“In the not-too-distant past, more or less thirty autumns ago, his mother had given him the mirror, which she named The Moon’s Face.”
Four Flash Fictions by Saudi Writer Wafa Al-Harbi
Her writing can be characterized by its accessibility to a broad readership and by its ability to surprise the reader in a small space.
New Fiction in Translation: Azza Maghur’s ‘Mowgli and Shere Khan’
It’s not a jungle, it’s a city, but not any city, it’s the capital. He’s not “Mowgli”—his name is Ihab. As for “Shere Khan,” he’s nothing but an animal. This story takes place in Tripoli. As I write it, I won’t be telling you about the Tripoli that I’ve lived in for half a century; I’ll tell you stories about the war that’s devouring it.
New Iraqi Fiction: Muhammad Khudayyir’s ‘The Tunnel’
As the police closed in, the protesters began to retreat, individually and in groups.