Short Fiction: Zuher Karim’s ‘The Awakening of Abdulmonam’
“This is a confusing experience, not intended to be comical in any way, shape, or form.”
From ArabLit Quarterly
From the FOLK Issue: ‘Death in Three Portraits’
Bakhit Al-Bashari lay in his sickbed, the same bed he once made with his bare hands from the stalks of palm fronds.
Launching the FOLK Issue: The Ordinary and Extraordinary That ‘Refuse to Be Erased’
“This issue, our last of the year, is a celebration of stories and poetry that are oral, anti-professional, transgressive, strange, and fantastical. In it, the ordinary and extraordinary people at the margins, as Alaa Murad writes, ‘refuse to be erased.'”
Cover Talk: Ahmed Alrefaie, Artist Behind FOLK Issue Cover Art
The cover art of our Winter 2021 FOLK-themed issue, guest-edited by Ali Al-Jamri, is by Kuwaiti illustrator and graphic designer Ahmed Alrefaie.
Short Fiction: Belal Fadl’s ‘As Per Job Description’
Belal Fadl’s sharply funny “As Per Job Description,” in Mahmoud Younes’s translation, was shortlisted for the 2020 ArabLit Story Prize and appeared in the Winter 2020 DREAMS issue of ArabLit Quarterly.
New Fiction: Ameer Hamad’s ‘Captain Majid’
This story, by Palestinian author Ameer Hamad, first ran in our Fall 2021 FOOTBALL issue.
Fiction from Sudan: Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s ‘A Veteran Warrior’
“Will they shoot again?” the little girl asks her mother.
Award-winning Short Fiction: Raja Alem’s ‘The Boa’
” I spat out all the womb’s waters that were stagnant within my chest, and then waited for their despair.”
Luqman Derky: ‘Knocking on Freedom’s Door’
“Do the players belong to the police force or the thieves?” one of our failed players asked. “The thieves, you moron,” our always-angry coach said.