Dear Literary Prizes, Don’t Honor That Wall
“There’s also an argument that literary prizes — far from honoring the hyper-militarized borders that choke our century — should violate them.”
News
Today: A Motion to Stay Ahmed Naji’s Two-year Prison Sentence for His Novel ‘Using Life’
“Supporters have asked those in Egypt to gather at 10 a.m.”
Is Sayed Kashua the Funniest Living: A) Israeli-Palestinian or B) Palestinian-Israeli Author?
Whether you read Sayed Kashua’s new “Native: Dispatches from Israeli-Palestinian Life” or Sayed Kashua’s new “Native: Dispatches from Palestinian-Israeli Life” depends on whether you buy books printed in the US or the UK. But don’t worry, they’re both equally funny.
On Eid al-Fitr, Literature that Remembers Those in Prison, House Arrest, and in Exile
“But this Eid al-Fitr, Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji remains in prison on his three-year sentence; Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh remains in prison in Saudi Arabia, serving his eight-year, 800-lash sentence; Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour remains under house arrest…”
On the 4th of July: Portraits of Americans in Arabic Literature
“Now the Americans have occupied it and surrounded it with walls and checkpoints; our new rulers can live far away from us.”
‘Arab World Books’ To Get a ‘Complete Makeover’
“Arab World Books (http://www.arabworldbooks.com/), founded in March 1998, has long been a fantastic resource, but — a bit like ArabLit — it is stuck in a design that made sense the year of its launch.”
An Interview with the Anonymous Author of ‘Through Algeria’
In the tradition of Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, Algerian author-scholar Nadia Ghanem has a discussion with the anonymous unaccompanied Englishwoman who wrote Through Algeria.
Arab Authors on Brexit
“One more massive lurch toward the dark.”
Friday Films: ‘The Mountain,’ Based on a Novel by Fathi Ghanem
The film was released in 1965, directed by Khalil Shawki and starring Samira Ahmed.