Husam Maarouf on Launching New ‘Gaza Publications’
Hiusam Maarouf talks about the new publishing house “Gaza Publications,” saying that the idea “stemmed from the fear of obliteration and erasure that threatens the Palestinian story.”
Interviews
On Textual Violence: Cultural Imperialism and Monolingual ‘Translation’
In our third “BETWEEN TWO ARABIC TRANSLATORS” conversation, Yasmeen Hanoosh and Mona Kareem discuss translation work as “a ground to stand on,” the process of removing the “veil of innocence” from literary translation, the small-press and translators’ collectives that Mona is excited about, and more.
On the Neglected Margins
Here, Taissier Khalaf talks about The Andalusian Messiah, shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction. The novel follows Gonzalez’s quest for identity after his Morisco mother’s execution in 1592 Andalusia. The author digs into “secrets and mysteries” of “neglected margins” and reflects on his literary journey.
With 2025 IPAF Winner Mohamed Samir Nada
Mohamed Samir Nada talks about his dystopian novel Prayer of Anxiety, which won the 2025 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
‘A Magical Dimension’
A prize-winning novel about family tension is set during a period of tumult in Tunisia.
In Conversation: On the New Literature Podcast MAKTOOB
The new podcast MAKTOOB: Arabic Stories in English is coming soon from Komet Kashakeel. You can find a trailer with more about the six-episode podcast, which covers a diversity of books from across the region, on YouTube and Spotify. Here, co-hosts Lauren Pepperell and Anam Zafar talk about how it came about, highlights from the series, and what we might expect from a season two.
Haneen al-Sayegh on Writing Women and Collective Solidarity
International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted writer Haneen Al-Sayegh talks with ArabLit about the novel that “began as an intimate letter” to her daughter, the collective solidarity of women, and how “many depictions of Arab women in literature remain confined to reductive tropes: the broken, submissive woman pleading for freedom or awaiting salvation.”
Ala Hlehel On Power, Place, and the Palestinian Novel
In this conversation with ArabLit, Ala Hlehel talks about coming-of-age as a writer in a remote mountain village, the literary spaces that nurture bold writing, and the quiet radicalism of a woman singing with Umm Kulthum in her kitchen.
New on Bulaq: Arab Women’s Memoirs
In this episode, author, commentator and human rights advocate Khaled Mansour joins us to talk about how reading Arab women’s memoirs can help one gain a new understanding of the region’s collective history.