‘Maqam Kurd’: A Counterpoint of Fragmented Identities
By Mohammed Said Hjiouij Much like Kurdish music, which is dominated by the Bayat maqam—a blend of sorrow and joy—the first chapter of Maha Hassan’s latest novel, Maqam Kurd, is […]
Reviews
What Can Palestinian Literature Tell Us About Amputations in Gaza?
By Graham Liddell Words fail spectacularly in the shadow of 2,000 pound bombs. Palestinian author Anton Shammas recently described his own incapacity to respond in writing to the slaughter and […]
Hanan Jasim-Khammas: On Writing the Body in Iraqi Literature After 2003
By Olivia Snaije Iraqi academic Hanan Jasim-Khammas was just 19 in 2004, when the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse came to light. Later, as a student of comparative literature, she became […]
Looking for Ghosts: On Said Khatibi’s ‘End of the Sahara’
You can also read an excerpt of the novel in Alex Elinson’s translation and listen to an episode of the BULAQ podcast that features novelist Said Khatibi, talking about this […]
Why Should We Translate the Novels of Ahmed Khaled Tawfik?
By Melissa Krawczyk Ahmed Khaled Tawfik (أحمد خالد توفيق) was a prolific, celebrated, and beloved Egyptian author who wrote in both Egyptian and Classical Arabic. A trailblazing contemporary author of […]
Reading Palestinian Children’s Literature, Recommending Picture Books
Reviews by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Ekram Abdelgawad, and Elisabet Risberg Translations from the Swedish by Shaun Whiteside, Faye Wikner, and Eva Apelqvist Palestinian picture books — like picture books in […]
Palestinian Prison Memoir Becomes Unlikely Topic at 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair
By Olivia Snaije This is a story about many stories. It begins with the Nakba, occupation, and imprisonment, but it’s also about courageous publishers and an upcoming memoir, The Tale […]
Recovering “Moroccan Other-Archives”: Reading Literature as a Space for Memory-Making
By Leonie Rau In his new monograph Moroccan Other-Archives. History and Citizenship After State Violence, Brahim El Guabli explores the possibilities of recovering historical narratives in the absence of a […]
‘They Fell Like Stars from the Sky’: Sheikha Helawy’s ‘Certain Understanding of Happiness’
By M Lynx Qualey ……..They Fell Like Stars from the Sky & Other Stories ……..by Sheikha Helawy, translated by Nancy Roberts ……..Neem Tree Press, September 2023. Their bodies might be displaced, […]