Summer Reads: ‘How Moroccans Laugh’
“Through it all, Moroccans have maintained their ability to laugh at everything. Do we not have a well-known proverb that says, ‘Too much worrying makes you laugh?'”
From ArabLit Quarterly
Summer Reads: Sonallah Ibrahim’s ‘Arsène Lupin’
“My father got dressed, brushed off his tarbush with the sleeve of his jacket, and placed it at an appropriate tilt on his head. Then he twisted the ends of his white mustache all the way up to his nostrils. We left the apartment, locking the door behind us, and went down to the street. I noticed we were heading toward the tram stop.”
Summer Reads: ‘Rice Pudding for Two’
“Take a pinch of cinnamon with one hand and a pinch of vanilla with the other; delicately sprinkle both into the mixture. Now rub your hands together and bring your attention to your neck, patting your palms against it. This detail is essential for a good rice pudding.”
Summer Reads: Muhammad Zafzaf’s ‘Borges in the Hereafter’
“But, Mr. President,” Borges cut in, “we’re already dead.”
Summer Reads: Basma Alnsour’s “The Time Our Friend Forgot His Phone”
“And so it was out of sheer laziness that he decided to go without his phone for the rest of the day. He assured himself it was safe, and that there was no way it could get stolen. In any case, he could use the landline or his dear wife’s mobile if there was an emergency, and he needed to get hold of family or friends.”
Summer Reads: ‘And We Still Have the Sea’
“yes, the sea changes colors / drinking the yellow of my doubt and distrust / turning as blue as my melody / my songs and ships set sail on its scattered waves”
Summer Reads: ‘The Crime of Translation’
“But in a broader sense, crime as transgression takes in a spate of ideas, images, and conceits from Arabic literature.”
Summer Reads: Rym Jalil’s ‘My Mother’s Kitchen’
“Every day I lie and say / I know this place. / My mother’s kitchen / brims with afflictions / I must pretend to befriend it / we all know it can have only one master / from its beginning to its end”
Summer Reads: ‘On Fiction’s Uneaten Meals’: A Talk with Donia Kamal
” Cooking is a central way in which the narrator feels; it reflects her state of mind and how she perceives the events and people around her. So it was more important for me to write about the process of making the food rather than about people eating it.”