Sales of Arabic Books on the Rise…A Bit
A report earlier this week in The National pointed to a (slight?) rise in demand for Arabic titles from the Emirati book-store chain Magrudy’s. The newspaper notes: Magrudy’s bookstore says […]
Poetry
Following Million’s Poet, Let’s Have an Arabic Def Poetry Jam
While reading several of the Iraqi poets—well, two in particular—from the recently released Banipal 37: Iraqi Writers, I thought: These poems should be spoken aloud. Nay, they should be performed. […]
Two Excerpts from Yet Unpublished Iraqi Novels
Two of the novels excerpted in Banipal 37: Iraqi Authors have not yet been published in Arabic (or Finnish, English, Urdu, Quechua). Both are terrifying, and both show serious promise. […]
Mid-May Arabic Best-Sellers
I don’t see anything new on the Diwan (Cairo) bestseller list (is Taxi really still a top seller?), and the Magrudy’s (Dubai) list has only English titles. Amazon.Com has a […]
Well, This Isn’t Going to Help Us Read Arabic: The Kerfuffle Over /Arabian Nights/
A new English version of The Arabian Nights, translated by Malcolm and Ursula Lyons, is making its way around the English-speaking world. It’s apparently quite beautifully done, and also quite […]
Update to the List of 105 Best Books in Arabic (and Their Availability in English)
Reader John Alvey generously devoted some time to finding works that I missed from the original list of the Arab Writers Union’s “Best 105 Books in Arabic.” He also added […]
Should I Despair of This Ever Being Translated?
For the time being, I’m going to skip over the rest of the Iraqi literature in Banipal 37 and head straight to a discussion of “Ammetis, the Sleeper.” This is because—while […]
University of Oregon Moves Arabic to Religious Studies Department
This comes from a report in the university’s own newspaper, so the student-reporter finds people who are generally upbeat about this oddball move. Only instructor Mohamed Jemmali allows himself to […]
The Literature of Morocco, and an Excuse to Post Some Lovely Photos
Why Moroccan lit? Why today? Because I wanted to steal some of my friend Esen’s gorgeous photographs of Chefchaouen, Morocco. I have concluded that: either a) Chefchaouen is one of […]