‘I Do Not Wish For You To See Gaza As Anything But a Rose’
Gaza author Hedaya Shamun writes — although her writing rituals have disappeared — about the world she sees around her. Translation by Ghada Mourad and Tyson Patros.
Poetry
The Lyric, Slapstick, Romantic, Academic ‘Land of No Rain’
This year, 2014CE, hasn’t been a very particularly good one for real-world human ventures. Fortunately, however, it has been an excellent one for Arabic literature in translation: Iman Humaydan Younes’s circling “Other Lives”; Radwa Ashour’s emotional “Tantoureya” and “Blue Lorries”; Jabbour Douaihy’s sharp “June Rain”; Sonallah Ibrahim’s compelling “Stealth” was re-issued; two more volumes of the incredible “Leg over Leg”; several interesting collections. But the book that has made my year, thus far, is Amjad Nasser’s “Land of No Rain.”
What Does It Take to Found a Library in Sana’a, Yemen?
The TEDxSana’a Book Club has established a small but vibrant book community in Yemen’s largest city, as reported in the Yemen Times this week. Now they’re looking to expand even more,
Promiscuous Translations and the New Palestinian Poetry Collection, ‘A Bird is not a Stone’
“But then I understood. There is some point where it’s impossible to cross the wall between two languages if you don’t change it.”
On Tayeb Salih’s 85th Birthday
Sudanese novelist Tayib Salih (1929-2009) would have been 85 today. He was born in a village in north Sudan and originally intended to work in agriculture.
Mona Prince: ‘Revolution is My Name’
Cairo-based journalist and researcher Alexia Underwood sat down with controversial Egyptian author Mona Prince to discuss her writing, her activism, and the future.
Egyptian Author Omar Hazek’s ‘World Cup’ Letter from Prison
The poet and novelist Omar Hazek, sentenced to two years at Borg El-Arab prison ostensibly for violating Egypt’s controversial anti-protest law, has written his seventh letter from inside prison.
Three Arabic Poems Chosen for 50 Greatest Modern Love Poems List
The poetry team at the Southbank Centre worked for a year to come up with this international list of the best 50 love poems of the last half-century.
An (Awesome) Playlist for Sonallah Ibrahim’s ‘Stealth’
Ethnomusicologist and DJ Brian Shimkovitz of Awesome Tapes From Africa has put together a Stealth-inspired mix of fabulous songs from the performers mentioned on Sonallah Ibrahim’s landmark book.