“Surely, the life of the courtesan ʿArib differs in fundamental ways from, for example, the likes of a Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, or even a Justin Bieber. But how exactly? Listening last year to a Radiolab podcast on K-Pop, I was again struck by how modern some aspects of these women’s lives were.”
“However, when my mother died, I started to look at things differently. Reality is harder than it seems for women, especially when they are weak and powerless. Women should stand out from the crowd to evade the destiny of others who are buried alive symbolically.”
“For if you have crossed
So have we all”
They named me without asking my permission.
They bequeathed me their bodies’ curses,
then said,
“This is your heritage.
Live in peace with it and smile!”
“The horizon stretched endlessly in front of her. Yusra had forgotten the world was so huge. She left the shore farther and farther behind, and thanked God the sea was calm that day. Far off in the distance, far away, she saw Israeli naval patrol ships looming menacingly on the horizon. They were poised like sea monsters, ready to snatch up the fishing boats. She turned away and gazed out even farther, imagining far-off countries she wished she could visit.”
“And remember: talking about periods in fus7a is not insulting, because periods are not insulting!”
“Forthcoming in translation is Ashour’s The Journey, translated by Michelle Hartman and set to be released by Interlink Books.”
“Sorry, I don’t know what NGO means.”
“The PEN/Heim Translation Fund was established in the summer of 2003, and — since that time — it has funded a total of 139 translations from over 35 languages, including three projects translated from Arabic.”
