Poetry

One Arabic novel (in English) makes the 2010 Best Translated Book Award list from “Three Percent” and Open Letter Books. It’s The Zafarani Files by Gamal al-Ghitani, which was translated […]

Elan has a piece about women being shortchanged on the IPAF (Arabic Booker) shortlists. This criticism follows that of Susannah Tarbush, published last month, but lacks her question: Why? Instead, […]

This piece would’ve been much more interesting as a Q & A. Instead we get Jeffrey Fleishman’s thoroughly chewed and swallowed, chewed and swallowed (and swished-around-in-his-mouth) ideas about Yemen and, […]

I understand and appreciate (and share, really) the American obsession with the new. What books came out in 2009? What will be released in 2010? Who’s the next Sonallah Ibrahim/Naguib […]

I will be out of the country (Egypt, that is) through the new year, and for the duration away from computers and screens and Internet connections, insha’allah. I’ll take my […]

An interesting short feature from Bikya Masr.

In a somewhat rambling but very informative piece on the Saudi Gazette, Susannah Tarbush asks “where are the women?” on the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, or “Arabic Booker,” shortlist. […]

Like Mansoura Ez Eldin, Muhammad Al-Mansi Qindeel is already familiar to English-language readers—or, in any case, a tiny cadre of English-language readers—as his novel, Moon over Samarqand, has come out […]

According to The National, judge Shereen Abu El Naga, an Egyptian writer and professor, resigned from the panel Wednesday, when the shortlist was released. Dr. Abu el Naga reportedly told […]