Best 100 Arabic Books (According to the Arab Writers Union): 71-80
This is where you’ll find 1-10 (and an explanation of this project), and here’s 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, and 61-70. Please do help me out with errors and omissions. […]
Poetry
Ahdaf Soueif on the Origins of PalFest
The Palestinian Festival of Literature kicks off May 1 at the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem; it will continue through May 6, and makes its way through Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem, […]
Taha Hussein on the Debate over Banning 1,001 Nights
All right, the dean of Arabic literature died in 1973, so I couldn’t have asked his opinion on the matter. And no, Taha Hussein did not appear to me in […]
No Arab Writers Make the Shortlist for ‘African Booker’
They’ve announced the shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing (sometimes called the “African Booker,” even though it’s a short-story prize, not for a novel). The shortlistees were selected […]
What Will Spur Reading in the Arab World?
A recent post from 7iber.com (ink.com) rattled off a few of the recent literary initiatives in the Arabic-writing and -reading world: Beirut39, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Arabic Booker), […]
P.S.: Is Colloquial Arabic Destroying the (Literary) World? Or Is It the Internet?
This week, Qantara explores the sometimes-literary Arabic bloggers’ magazine, Wasla. The magazine culls from blogs around the Arab world and publishes them in a free print magazine; it’s being billed […]
It’s Not Just the Arabic Booker: World of Book Prizes ‘Too Cozy’
At some point in the controversy-riddled process of selecting this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF for short, or Arabic Booker), I sent an email to a fellow blogger-critic, […]
PalFest 2010 Program Announced Today
PalFest 2010—a literary festival that aims “to bring world class cultural events to Palestinian cities”—announced its May 2010 program today. The festival, which was founded by award-winning author Ahdaf Souief, […]
Someone Else’s Egypt Book List
It must be “Egypt fiction” week, as Donna McIlvain posted a list just before me on her “Bookpaths” blog. Hers, however, are books not so much by Egyptians (some, of […]