Poetry

Shaimaa El-Sabbagh, the activist who was shot dead at a rally in Tahrir Square yesterday, was also a poet.

Hey, listicles have been made about stranger things.

Amr Khaled — perhaps the best-known Muslim television preacher in the world — has now stepped into the world of literature with a debut YA novel that is already a best-seller.

Getting to the Doha International Book Fair this year was quite a challenge. As one bookseller asked, “Is anyone going to walk five kilometers for books?” But in a city with few other book-buying opportunities, bibliophiles made their way despite the obstacles.

The European Cultural Foundation has made an English translation (of the Serbian translations) of 12 Impossibles: Stories by Rebellious Arab Writers available online.

The And Other Stories Arabic Reading Group is back with three more Syrian books being considered for publication in English.

“Mourid Barghouti ended the evening with a touching poem, urging sadness to walk out of the door, out of his life. For sadness would only consume him, preoccupy him, prevent him from thinking of his beloved.”

Each year, the US State Department, which funds the University of Iowa’s “Between the Lines” program, determines which countries are invited to submit nominees. This year it’s Tunisia.

Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh was arrested by Saudi authorities on January 1, 2014 — charged with “insulting the Godly self and having long hair” — and has yet to face trial.