Many American readers and critics grant authors — particularly foreign authors — an instant counter-culture status; Youssef Rakha’s “In Extremis” (discussed yesterday), points to the many ways in which novels […]
Blogs have slowly been going up from the Hay Festival Beirut, which was held this July 4-6.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The London Literature Festival held at the Southbank Centre on 6th July marked this occasion with a conversation about the prize itself, the works that were written, and how they are disseminated in the Arab world and the West.
Today — July 8 — is the birthday of Palestinian poet and memoirist Mourid Barghouti (I Saw Ramallah; I Was Born There, I Was Born Here). It is also, as […]
The United States has perhaps the most lucrative humor-production industry worldwide, “translateable” by virtue of US dominance. The world is ready to laugh at a funny George Bush/Lady Gaga quip while not necessarily being ready to catch a fastball about Danilo Türk. But can Egyptian humor — which of course is light years funnier than the top-selling American brands — be rendered in English?
Less than a year ago, I came across arablit.wordpress.com on the AUC website.
Arab-American literature is an interesting place to land on the 4 of July, but — on the USA’s Day of Days — I wanted to reflect on how the nation appears through Arabic literary lenses.
The World Writers’ Conference website didn’t have dates for the Egypt event(s) — maybe, by some lucky miracle, I will make it — but you can follow discussions on twitter at #worldwritersconf and sign up for updates here.
On Saturday, a group representing Egypt’s current cultural elite — including acclaimed novelists Gamal El-Ghitani and Bahaa Taher, former culture minister Gaber Asfour, current head of the Egyptian writers’ union Mohamed Salmawy, and poet Abdel-Moati Hegazy — met to vote on one of the country’s biggest culture awards: the Nile (née Mubarak) awards.
