News

It was during a conversation between Yasmina Jraissati and Nadim Tarazi, director of La maison du livre that the idea for “Mubtada wa Khabar” (Subject and Predicate) first arose. It was 2006, and Jraissati had been an agent specialized in Arabic literature for two years, but was struggling to find independent information on books. Where was the Publishers Weekly of Arabic literature? Where were the best-seller lists? How could the information get out?

The website of Rowayat, a new Egyptian literary journal just launched, and the print magazine isn’t far behind. Founder Sherine ElBanhawy says the magazine aims to embrace Egypt’s hybrid writer, particularly those who write in English, from Waguih Ghali to Ahdaf Soueif to Hedy Habra to the future.

Yasmina Jraissati writes, in Book Brunch’s Spotlight on Arab Publishing (Sharjah International Book Fair Special), about the precipitous drop in sales publishers have seen in 2012 and 2013. But this isn’t the whole story.

This week, Beirut hosts its Francophone Book Fair, an annual event now celebrating its 20th year. Among the events was the launch of the city’s International House of Writers. Contributor Mishka Mojabber Mourani was there.

This week — from October 29 – Nov 5 — eight emerging writers are at the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF)’s fifth annual nadwa, or writing masterclass.

In “No Zombies in Gaza: Horror in Arabic Cinema” — published last Halloween — Yazan al-Saadi wrote that, “Horror’s appeal is universal, deeply rooted in our common primordial desire to experience a controlled state of fear. The experience is essentially cathartic.” What, then, is horror literature? In a world filled with so many legitimate horrors, what’s the point?

A seminar and a festival — in Dubai and in Cairo — are celebrating the life of “the Dean of Arabic Literature,” Taha Hussein. The great author died forty years ago yesterday.

The festival, which will take place on the University of Oklahoma campus from October 29 – November 1, will spotlight Palestinian-American novelist Naomi Shihab Nye, who is set to receive the $25,000 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature.