Author J.C. Michaels recently visited Cairo to talk with audiences about the Arabic translation of his YA novel Firebelly: By Yasmine Motawy J. C. Michaels, the author of the award-winning and critically acclaimed philosophical young adult novel Firebelly: A Journey into… Read More ›
“There are some books from this year’s shortlist that would work very well in translation as well.”
“I threw aside the self-censorship that comes from excessive concerns about the reader’s age. I wrote and let the book be what it was shaping up to be, if it was going to be a YA book, so be it, if it was going to be an adult novel, then that is what it was destined to be.”
Sharafeddine won for her novel that tackles domestic violence, Cappuccino.
The prize has six categories: Young Adult Book of the Year, Best Text, Best Illustrations, Best Production, and Digital Book App of the Year. There is also a “Children’s Book of the Year” award, a top prize worth 300,000 AED, that additionally goes to a book in any of the categories.
“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.”
Fatima Sharafeddine is a multi-award-winning author and translator of children books for all ages, from babies to teens. Sharafeddine has written and translated more than 120 books for young people, and her work has been translated into Dutch, Danish, Spanish, Catalan, French, German, English, Turkish,… Read More ›
“The trilogy, and Al Noman’s establishment of Manuscript 2559, the language’s first all-science-fiction-and-fantasy publishing house, will cater to a growing audience of young Arab inquisitive minds.”
“Life is bleak in Palestine under occupation. It’s not a happy life. So children’s writers try to make their stories not only vibrant, but also colorful, magical. To let the children know there are other worlds.”
The shortlists for the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature have been announced: The YA list includes a novel by veteran children’s-book writer Rania Hussein Amin, author of the charming, award-winning Farhana books. Afaf Tabbalah, who previously won the Etisalat, also returns… Read More ›
But the space created by Harry Potter, Elnamoury said, made it easier to solve many of these problems with a “strategy of preservation and transliteration.”
“The importance of having children, teens, and young adults engage with literature in translation — literature from other traditions, that builds on different discussions — is an essay for another day. But it is even more essential with Arabic literature[.]”
