Poetry

Another smaller magazine, Laghoo, has joined the moment of cultural blossoming. The note below is from editor Ashraf Zaghal:

Yes, the furor (here, here, here, and here) over Saudi Arabia’s “guest of honor” status at the 2011 Prague book fair is justified. No country should be “guest of honor” at a book fair if they’re not prepared to bring along their…books.

The five books below take us from a time when Copts were the majority in Egypt through the good and ugly of the twentieth century.

Frankly, I am not equipped to explain the thinking behind the KSA’s (many) laws. But I can say that the English-language term “book club” is not sufficient to express what Saudi authorities mean to control and repress with a new set of culture-strangling bylaws.

The book is classic Ibrahim in that it uses a pastiche of headlines, captions, factoids, and advertisements as well as the life of the titular character, Zaat. The novel provides social criticism of the Egypt under Egypt’s three post-colonial ex-presidents. Capitalism and corruption are core themes; sectarianism can also be found.

Via Sinan Antoon.

Anglos have long been charged by a belief in Arab (hyper)sexuality. As Edward Said nods at in his pioneering Orientalism, this is in large part because of Anglo (hyper)reserve about s-e-x. Indeed, we might just as well talk about why Anglo writers can’t properly describe sex in their novels, and what they might learn from Saudi women.