"Now, it was the beginning of summer."
Charif Majdalani Wins Prix Femina for ‘Beirut 2020: Chronicle of a Collapse’
Lebanese author Charif Majdalani has won a 2020 Prix Femina "special jury prize" for his "Beyrouth 2020: Journal d’un effondrement."
Publisher and Author Riyad al-Rayyis Dies at 83
"He founded his publishing house in London in 1986, and moved it to Beirut in the early 1990s."
‘Readings for the City of Shattered Glass’: Support Lebanese Theater
"We are in such a critical situation that we are inverting the role of theater: instead of having that art form as a tool to reflect on society, to convey social order, to incite rebellion or revolution, and most of all justice in times of crisis, what we are striving for at the moment is to gather the dismantled pieces of a very vivid theatrical scene in Lebanon. It is our particular role now to keep theater and theatermakers alive and dignified."
Multigenre, Multi-author Reading August 12 to Raise Money for Beirut
"Funds raised will be distributed to a variety of on-the-ground organizations, including: the Unite Lebanon Youth Project, Beit Aftal Assomoud, Food Blessed, Iftar in a Box, Sesobel, Rebuild Beirut, Wa Taawanoo, and Egna Legna."
Fundraising and Updates from a Few Beirut Bookshops and Libraries
A few updates from booksellers and libraries around Beirut.
#TranslateThis YA: An Excerpt of Fatima Sharafeddine’s Award-winning ‘Cappuccino’
"A bitter, metallic taste rises to my tongue. I take a deep breath, put my key in the lock, and shove open the door."
Bulaq 54: ‘Talking Shit’
We discuss the current situation in Lebanon and literature that looks at the worlds beneath our feet.
Lebanese Poet and Essayist Salah Stétié, 90
The Lebanese poet, essayist, art critic, and diplomat Salah Stétié died last night in Paris, his family announced.
Etel Adnan and Sarah Riggs Win Griffin Poetry Prize for ‘Time’
"What is astonishing here is how she manages to give weariness its own relentless energy."
‘A Street in the Pandemic’ & Other Poems by Jawdat Fakhreddine
"Perhaps, after this pandemic passes,/ I will keep the rituals I have acquired in its course / because I've learned to hold on- more than ever before -/ to time,/ to examine it meticulously/ and to find life, clenched and caught,/ in its fleeting moments."
Friday Finds: New Independent Lebanese Publication, ‘The Public Source’
"The Public Source" was conceived as a platform for in-depth, long-form accountability journalism; with the spark of revolution, they precipitated our publishing date and launched the platform with "Dispatches from the October Revolution."
