A Review of Adonis: Selected Poems
It was 1988 when Adonis’s name was first connected with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Poetry
Arabic Poetry Friday: Tamim Barghouti’s Latest, Submission Suggestions, Second Graders Read Adonis
Zeinobia has posted a new poem by Palestinian-Egyptian poet Tamim Barghouti, son of Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour and Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti. The poem is “يا شعب مصر.” Tamim Barghouti […]
‘A Hundred Steps from the Revolution’ and the State of Arabic Nonfiction
Non-fiction is also something writers of [Arabic] fiction and poetry seem to think they can do with their eyes shut.
Happy Shem en-Neseem from Out al-Kouloub’s ‘Three Tales of Love and Death’
Today is, of course, Shem en-Nesseem, of “Smell the Breeze” day, a celebration of Egyptian spring. Out el Kouloub’s 1940 book, Three Tales of Love and Death, published in English […]
Remembering the Poet of Egypt’s (Previous) Revolution
Today in Al Masry Al Youm, Heba Afify has an essay about colloquial poet Salah Jaheen (accompanied by a terrible photo of the rotund revolutionary).
Can Books Serve as Cultural Ambassadors?
That’s what Publishing Perspectives asked yesterday: Can books change the reputation of a nation? Can their “soft power” shift international perceptions of a nation?
New Online Venue for Arabic Literature (in Arabic and English)
This week, Jadaliyya debuted its new culture section, promising updates every Monday.
Why is Ibrahim Farghali’s Novel Being Prevented from Entering Egypt?
Nearly two years after its initial publication, Egyptian novelist Ibrahim Farghali’s Sons of Gabalawy has been prevented from (re)entering Egypt
Imprisoned for (Arabic) Poetry
Surely most Anglo poets—well, until they think about it—are jealous of those Arab poets who are so fresh, alive, and relevant that they are jailed for their works. Indeed, although the era of Arabic poetry is over (ahem), newspapers in rebel-controlled Libyan cities are apparently full of poems.