Qatar, for Culture’s Sake
As I read through the Middle East Online article “Qatar’s culture drive is not just for culture’s sake” (it’s also to diversify the economy) my interest was piqued by the […]
News
Notes: Portal for Arabic iBooks Coming Soon, ‘Jordan Festival’ Eschews Lit, Abu Dhabi Fair Cuts Back Invites
In the last few days, a number of stories have seemed worth mentioning—but they’re stories about which I don’t have enough knowledge to comment. So I thought I’d do as others do, and make a list of links.
Update on Arabic E-Books from Publishing Perspectives
I appreciate the work Publishing Perspectives has done to keep me abreast of the world of e-books in Arabic. PP recently spoke (emailed?) with Ramy Habeeb of http://www.kotobarabia.com. It sounds—without knowing anything about the e-book landscape—like they’re nearing a breakthrough?
Magdy El-Shafee’s /Metro/ Not Available in Arabic, or English, But You Will Find It in…Italian
Thanks to translator Barbara Benini for this tip. (Benini is the Italian translator of Ahmed Nagi’s Rogers.) Metro, a graphic novel penned by blogger/artist Magdy al-Shafee, is not available here […]
How Do Arabs Fare on Summer Reading Lists?
‘Tis the season of summer reading lists. Newspapers, magazines, blogs, and even TV stations clamor to suggest the books you should take to the beach, with an emphasis on the […]
/Al Masry Al Youm/ Talks Ahmed Mourad’s /Vertigo/, Coming in English Next Year
NOTE: Vertigo has been named “best revolution read” of 2011. # Novels, Orhan Pamuk has argued, are fundamentally visual. Such is the case for the works of photographer-author Ahmed Mourad, […]
Denys Johnson-Davies Remembers Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
I missed this in last week’s Al Ahram Weekly, but I suppose it wasn’t “timely” in any case: these are memories of a Palestinian who died in 1994 and whose […]
Update on Barghouti’s /I Was Born There, I Was Born Here/
Bibliophiles take note: Palestinian poet Mourid Bargouti’s new memoir is set to come out in in English next fall from American University in Cairo Press. The translation of Bargouti’s second […]
Forthcoming in 2011 from Bloomsbury-Qatar
Seif Salmawy, director at the recently launched Bloomsbury-Qatar publishing house, recently sent out an update re: Arabic books the house will publish in English next year. I would say these […]