A Tour of Khan Aljanub, The Bookseller and Publisher Shaping the Arabic Books Landscape in Berlin
“I think our bestsellers are children books.”
Interviews
#TranslateThis: Badr Ahmad’s ‘Black Rains’
As Ahmad wrote in his interview with al-Riwayah: “I wanted to write, to scream, to protest, to put my imprint on the forehead of this world. I wanted my sons and daughters to know, a decade or two from now, that their father rejected this war, he rejected all this destruction and exposed the thieves who rode on the wave of the revolution.”
How (and Why) to Subscribe to a Serialized ‘Kafka in Tangier’ Translation, Free
“As much as I adore Aaliya, I still harbor aspirations of being a necessary translator – or, more modestly and accurately, a translator who is read.”
On the Launch of RiveArabe, Dedicated to Arabic Literature in Italian
“The problem we encountered in Italy is the absence of a site that could connect translators, publishers, and readers, so we thought of building our site in such a way as to meet the needs of these three groups.”
Ali al-Tajer on Book-cover Design and Iraqi Stories
“Sometimes, after an initial agreement with the writer on a certain artwork, I read the text and then suggest some changes in the artwork, so I do some retouching on the work to be more suitable for the book.”
Jonathan Smolin on the Relationship Between Ihsan Abdel Kouddous’s Politics and His Novels
“My book really is an examination of how he participated in the coup ,and how he believed fundamentally that the Free Officers were going to install democracy, and—once he realized that they were actually installing military dictatorship—the way he dissented, in the editorials and in person, the way that he was jailed, and the way he turned to fiction to express his dissent directly to Nasser.”
On Publication Day, A Look Back: Ihsan Abdel Kouddous
Ihsan Abdel Kouddous’s I Do Not Sleep appears this month from Hoopoe Fiction, in Jonathan Smolin’s translation.
Linguistic Embodiment: A Talk with Lisa J. White and Mahmoud Shaltout
“. In short, this book can be integrated into any Arabic teaching curriculum as a supplement, and it can be enjoyed on its own by the linguistically curious, cultural enthusiasts, and art lovers of every description.”
A Talk with Poet Golan Haji: ‘Languages Never Draw Geographical Boundaries’
” Jaziri wrote poetry with one set of alphabets which at that time were used in four languages: Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Sometimes, he used the four languages in one couplet. His poems are still recited and sung by Kurds. That coexistence of languages was quite natural, the alluring music was convincing, although I sometimes understood almost nothing.”