Short Fiction in Translation: Bushra Fadil’s ‘Phosphorus at the Bottom of a Well’
“Forty hours passed, and Sa’ad’s memory was a moon hanging over the perturbed sky of the African continent. “
Fiction
Hilal Chouman’s ‘World of Dogs’
“The next day, he was watching a livestream on television when he saw his dream on the screen. The streets of Beirut were flooded with mounds of garbage. This was the first step, he thought. Next, the piles of rubble would appear, and the people would vanish, leaving the buildings deserted.”
New Fiction: Excerpt from Badriya al-Badri’s ‘The Last Crossing’
“Lights are running towards me. It’s the first time I’ve seen lights with legs. It’s not a cartoon, these are actual lights, running so fast they are panting; I see their tongues lolling out, drooling as if they are about to leap on someone and shred him with their sharp fangs.”
An Excerpt from Laila AlOthman’s Classic ‘Wasmiya Comes Out of the Sea’
“His heart will trill as he draws in his bounty. He will sniff the mouth of each fish for that aroma he adores. Perhaps the fish will bring him treasures from the depths. Her ring. Her necklace. Some trinket or keepsake.”
Excerpt from Muhamad A. Jamal’s BILA HUDOOD-featured ‘Flying’
“They loved all and were loved by all, except, that is, for the chickens….”
‘Arsène Lupin,’ a Short Story by Sonallah Ibrahim
“His mouth discharged a second snort. I worried he might attack me, or tear me apart, but he settled his body back into the chair and sighed. “
‘The Last One’ by Fatima Daas Wins Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt Prize
” All of this is told in a precisely poetic and incredibly contemporary way, drawing on traditions of Arabic literatures with great naturalness and range (Qur’an, poetry, rap).”
Friday Finds: An Excerpt of Mohamed Kheir’s ‘Slipping’
“Where the corniche wall ran out, a great tree hooped over to drink from the river. Beyond the tree there was nothing: nothing between us and the water. “
‘Lalibela’: New Short Fiction by Abdulhafez Maryoud
“That evening, the wind bellowed fiercely over the Lasata mountain’s heights.”