Banipal 47: Fiction from Kuwait
Banipal is now shipping out copies of issue 47: Fiction from Kuwait.
News
Rawi Hage on Writing ‘Without Touching Devices’ and His Kinship with Youssef Habchi El-Achkar
Awards and acclaim have collected around Rawi Hage ever since he published his debut novel in 2006. Although Hage came relatively late to novel writing, his first, De Niro’s Game, won the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Other awards followed for his second novel, Cockroach, and his third, Carnival, which was released in the U.S. just last month.
‘Lebanese Blonde,’ ‘House of Stone,’ ‘Atrium’ Win 2013 Arab American Book Awards
Yesterday evening, the Arab American Museum announced winners of the 2013 Arab American Book Awards. There were four winners and five honorable mentions.
‘And That is Only the Beginning’: Free Reading for Ramadan
“In our house we break a fast / with dates from Huun / and glasses of buttermilk. / Then on to bowls of lamb soup / flavored with mint, trays / of stuffed grape leaves, / spiced fava beans drenched / in olive oil and lemon juice. / And that is only the beginning.”
Keep Your Eye on the Wall: New Perspectives on Palestine’s Separation Wall
Keep Your Eye on the Wall, ed. Mitch Albert and Olivia Snaije, is a book that knits together photos and prose about the Separation Wall that snakes through Palestine. Photos from the book are currently exhibiting in France, where the book is already out. It’s forthcoming from Saqi Books in September. Meanwhile, Albert and Snaije answered a few questions.
Sahar El Mougy on the Future of the Egyptian Novel
On the 4th of July, the Edinburgh World Writer’s Conference (@edwritersconf) tweeted: “As Cairo is on our minds, it’s a fitting moment to publish our Egyptian #worldwritersconf keynote by @SaharElmougy”.
Creative-writing Culture in the Emirates: Will Money Help or Hurt?
A piece by Ayesha Almazroui in The National says “The UAE is a young country and so it has yet to develop a rich literary heritage to compare with…other countries in the region.” So, she asks: How can it be jump-started? Can it be jump-started?
On the Fourth of July: 5 Portraits of Americans in Arabic Literature
Obviously, the focus today is on Egypt, not the US. However, 1) this is what I’d prepared for today, and 2) the relationship between the US and most Arabic-writing nations remains in a tangle. These portraits are of interest, I think, both to Arabs and to North Americans.
If You’re in London: Etel Adnan, Hisham Matar, Ma’n Abu Taleb, and Sophia al-Maria
If you’re in London, don’t miss the 2013 Shubbak Festival’s big literary finish, with four fantastic authors exploring “Arab London’s artistic and literary heritage.”