Poetry

Novels may not be a Western invention—a number of scholars call Ibn Tufail the first novelist; his Hayy ibn Yaqdhan likely influenced Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe—regardless, it was Westerners who […]

After all the kerfuffle about how many Arabic Booker nominees use the girls’ room instead of the boys’ (and how this is proof of literary discrimination), I appreciate Syrian author […]

It was early December when the yearly Prix Goncourt for poetry was announced, but the ceremony takes place on Jan. 12 of the new year. The prize is to a […]

Yemen is still thick in the U.S. headlines. Coincidentally, (unless you can think up some fabulous conspiracy theory involving writers, planes, bombs, and Christmas) the most recent issue of Banipal […]

I say this as though I’ve read all of the Egyptian lit published (in translation, in 2009), which I haven’t. Nonetheless: Moon over Samarqand, by Mohamed Mansi Qandil. Qandil isn’t […]

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 […]