Two Poems and a Story to Remember Shaimaa al-Sabbagh
Samatar’s story, which plays with a story from the Arabic Tales of the Marvelous and News of the Strange, also pays tribute to al-Sabbagh, “the poet who wrote of the streets.”
News
Produce, Consume, Conserve: A Symposium on Egyptian Popular Culture
The first of the papers, Egypt’s Podcasts and Booktubes: A Literary Criticism of the Future? is up at Maydan, with suggestions for your literary podcast and booktube pleasure.
5 Poems by Qassim Haddad, Winner of Cairo Prize for Arabic Poetry
“So Qays—thanks to his madness—became free not only from the power of the sultan and the tribe, but also—and especially—from the boundaries imposed on him by the transmitters of his story. We still find him stepping out and escaping, over and over.”
Walid Taher: ‘When I Write, I Consider Everyone a Child’
“Speaking of translation, I once went alone to a workshop in Montreuil without a translator, and so I used Google Translate to pull sentences together and I sketched with the kids and it went quite well for about two hours.”
Newly Revealed Nobel Archives: Tawfiq al-Hakim Was Up for 1969 Prize
It notes only that he was nominated by Shawky Deif.
‘Hay Festival Abu Dhabi’ Announces 2020 Program Full of Literary Stars
“We absolutely want to make this festival work and to build on it, so that in 10 or 15 years’ time, people will perhaps look upon it in the way that the Colombians do with our festival in Cartagena.”
Call for Submissions: ArabLit Quarterly Winter/Spring 2020, THE ROAD
We prefer pitches to completed works; pitches should be in by January 18.
A List: Arabic Literature Forthcoming in Translation in 2020
From classics to contemporary murder mysteries, picture books to philosophical meditations, the Arabic literature we know about that is forthcoming in English translation in 2020.
A List: French Maghrebi Literature Forthcoming in Translation in 2020
2020 promises books from both Mahi and Aziz BineBine, as well as Kaouther Adimi, a classic by Driss Chraïbi, and one by Tahar Ben Jelloun.