“An-Nadīm is so firmly rooted in a tragic historical narrative—he belongs so richly and consequentially to that moment in the 1880s—that his vivid, entertaining, and stirring language becomes inert, maudlin, and hackneyed.”Continue Reading

This is part of a special section on self-translation. By Dunya Mikhail Writing a poem is exploring a new world, and the first feeling that usually accompanies it is doubt. Writing it the second time in another language helps me understand it more and feel more confident about it. Moreover,Continue Reading

This is part of a special section on self-translation. By Ali Shakir Trivia What does the “self” in “self-translator” stand for? A hand that slices a bilingual author’s entity in half, yielding pieces where different tongues are spoken? Or is it a bridge that links the terrains on their oppositeContinue Reading

This is part of a special section on self-translation. By Deena Mohamed * Deena Mohamed is an Egyptian illustrator and designer. Her graphic novel trilogy Shubeik Lubeik was awarded Best Graphic Novel and the Grand Prize of the Cairo Comix Festival (2017). The English translation has been acquired by PantheonContinue Reading

Also read the author-translator’s note, part of our special section on self-translation. By Khalid Lyamlahy Translated by Khalid Lyamlahy Excerpt 1 – Queuing at the Prefecture On my right, people under a wooden shed, in front of a metal gate. I walk their direction, convinced that my place is there:Continue Reading

This is part of a special section on self-translation. By Mona Kareem When I first started writing poems in Arabic at the age of ten, I called them “foreign poems.” I did not know at the time what a “prose poem” is, but I was able to tell that myContinue Reading

In this special section on self-translation, authors and author-translators Mona Kareem, Khalid Lyamlahy, Deena Mohamed, Dunya Mikhail, and Ali Shakir reflect on what it means to transport their own writing from one of their languages to another. Continue Reading