Stealing Sleep, Reclaiming Tomorrow
In the opening pages of The Sleep Thief by Ibtisam Azem (tr. Sinan Antoon), Palestinian protagonist, Gharib Haifawi, recounts how he was dubbed the “sleep thief” by his interrogators during his imprisonment.
Reviews
Every Alley, a Different Damascus
The Book of Damascus vividly portrays the many facets of life in Damascus, Syria. From children attempting to steal so they could have a day out with their friends, to people falling in love, to those trying to reach places of worship, Syrians have continued living their lives despite the warfare.
Books that Open Worlds: A Palestinian Reader’s Journey
“Ultimately, the arrival of Asad’s Secret in English is as much an act of preservation as it is an act of translation.”
‘Welcome to Hell:’ On Mohammad Sabaaneh’s Latest Graphic Novel
Since 2002, the Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh has been building a visual archive of Palestinian resistance.
In the Details: Masks, Memory, and Narrative Defiance
“A Mask the Color of the Sky” practices what it clearly laid out: using literature to engage obsessively with colonial details, to challenge them, and to insist on a Palestinian narrative.
Memories of Diminishment
On a review that nearly didn’t happen.
Maria Douaihy: ‘The Play is Everything’
“With Yehia, the play is everything. So, we make sure that sets, costumes and props fit in one car. This way we are ready to perform at short notice.” – Maria Douaihy on “Qornet el Bayda.”
‘On the Back of Restless Winds’
In his 2015 autobiography, A Time of Wind, Anxiety, and Freedom (أزمنة الريح والقلق والحرية ), Sudanese scholar Dr. Hayder Ibrahim Ali offers a rare and insightful account of Sudan’s intellectual and political life.
Lamia Ziadé’s ‘Rue de Phénicie’
Lebanese artist and writer Lamia Ziadé’s fifth illustrated book for adults, Rue de Phénicie, (Phoenicia Street), is a work of intellectual rigor and personal honesty. It’s a story that begins with finding hedonistic joy in Paris grows progressively more complicated by her excavations of the past and grappling with the present.