“A new collection of Laâbi’s work has also just appeared in Italian.”
Morocco
Morocco in ‘Open Confrontation with the Arabic Language(s)’?
“…if we speak Standard Arabic we will end up like the Saudis!”
Mohammed Berrada: ‘Everything Has Yet To Be Done’
This dispatch is the first from the 2015 Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which opens today.
Moroccan Writer Mahi Binebine on IMPAC’s 10-book Shortlist
“He tells of the characters who populated his childhood cosmos: the walking wounded, outcasts and failures – or ‘those left footsore by life,’ as he puts it.”
Mawred Grants for Young Writers Go To Rania Mamoun, Soukaina Habiballah
This year, the literature jury was made up of prominent literary artists: Syrian author Khaled Khalifa, Moroccan poet Yassin Adnan, and Algerian novelist Bachir Mefti.
Eating with Ibn Battuta
“Not only the greatest Arab traveller of all time, but perhaps the greatest of all time.”
Hemingway Grants Go To Translation of Works by Abdellatif Laâbi, Mohamed Nedali
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S. announced the 2014 recipients of the Hemingway Grant last month, and among the grant-ees were translations of work by Abdellatif Laâbi and Mohamed Nedali.
Moroccan Writer Mohammed Zafzaf: ‘Disturbing, Intriguing, Shocking, Innovative, Challenging, Amusing,’ and More
Mbarek Syrfi, who co-translated The Monarch of the Square (2014) with Roger Allen, answers questions about Zafzaf’s importance to Moroccan literature, his style, and why he hasn’t been translated into English — but should be.
Abdelfattah Kilito on ‘The Real Miracle’ of Translation and What Classical Arabic Literature Can Offer Us
Moroccan novelist, essayist, and critic Abdelfattah Kilito has a new book out in English translation this fall: “Arabs and the Art of Storytelling: A Strange Familiarity,” co-translated by Mbarek Sryfi and Eric Sellin. Kilito recently exchanged emails with translator and critic Robyn Creswell, who shared the exchange on Aesop.
Translation and Expectation: Which ‘For Bread Alone’ Are You Reading?
Yesterday, ArabLit posted about a new Mohamed Choukri International Award while making only slight mention of the circumstances under which Choukri’s seminal “al-Khubz al-Hafi” was translated into English. Indeed, calling it a translation is perhaps inaccurate.
Sonallah Ibrahim Part of Committee Setting Up ‘Mohamed Choukri International Award’
World literary awards are plentiful, although credible, transparent, and interesting ones less so. The Mohamed Choukri Foundation, named for the celebrated Moroccan author, recently announced the establishment of one in Choukri’s name.
‘A Night in Casablanca’: Bringing Mohamed Zafzaf Back to Life
It was thirteen years ago this month that Moroccan author Mohamed Zafzaf — the “godfather” of Moroccan literature — died in Casablanca. Although the French translation of his “The Cockerel Egg” received the Grand Atlas Prize in 1998, and the Spanish translation of his acclaimed “The Woman and the Rose” occasioned a letter from Spain’s king, he has been nearly absent from English translation.
