News

A few of the big authors of the last decade (the Alaa el Aswany, the Elias Khoury) as well as the obligatory “taboo breakers” (Girls of Riyadh) are reviewed by […]

Sales of non-children’s, non-religious books were down this year, according to the Gulf Times. Bummer.

On the second day of the new year, Tariq Ali was awarded the Granadillo 2010 (in Granada, of course) for his series of novels called The Islam Quintet. It is […]

Youssef Bazzi has an enthusiastic essay in Banipal 36: “Europe, our guide to reading our Arabic literature.” Yes, with a double “our.” Let us grant, for a moment, that his […]

If nothing else, it creates a nice mental picture: censorship, stretched out on the beach, taking it easy. Ahhh. Says Qatar’s arts and culture secretary general: “We do not censor […]

As a side note in her piece about women and the Arabic Booker, Susannah Tarbush notes that Azazeel will be coming out from Atlantic Books in spring 2010. Another paper […]

As came out last April, Dr. el Aswany was to be part of the panel selecting the Beirut39, but then withdrew. However, he continues to be part of other literary […]

Jamal Naji is a Jordanian writer of Palestinian descent, born in the ‘Aqbat Jaber refugee camp in 1954.  Lonely Planet, in their guide to Jordan, called him a “writer to […]

“The Long Road of H.H.,” by Chawki Amari, recently appeared in Algeria’s Al Watan, according to the blog Algerian Review. The translation to English is a little harum-scarum—so it’s difficult […]