ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY

Our Women on the Ground: Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World
2021-07-22 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/Paris)
Join a panel discussion moderated by editor Zahra Hankir, with journalists Aida Alami, Eman Helal, and Heba Shibani on Our Women on the Ground: Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World – a book bringing together nineteen Arab women journalists to reflect on how they report on their changing homelands in this first-of-its-kind essay collection. In their own words, they talk about what it’s like to report on conflicts that, quite literally, hit close to home.
A growing number of intrepid Arab and Middle Eastern sahafiyat—female journalists—are working tirelessly to shape nuanced narratives about their changing homelands, often risking their lives on the front lines of war. From sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo to the difficulty of traveling without a male relative in Yemen, their challenges are unique—as are their advantages, such as being able to speak candidly with other women at a Syrian medical clinic or with men on WhatsApp who will go on to become ISIS fighters, rebels, or pro-regime soldiers.

Conference: Pre-Modern Comparative Literary Practice in the Multilingual Islamic World(s)
2021-07-22 - 2021-07-24
The virtual conference is co-organized by Huda Fakhreddine (University of Pennsylvania), David Larsen (New York University), and Hany Rashwan (University of Birmingham), with special thanks to Rawad Wehbe (University of Pennsylvania). The conference is hosted by the Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation Research Centre (OCCT), University of Oxford, 22-24 July 2021.

Online Translation Workshop: Iraqi Kurmanji poet Zêdan Xelef
2021-07-20 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/Paris) | Poetry Translation Centre
The Poetry Translation Centre writes that they are “very proud to present our first ever workshop on Kurmanji poetry. We will be focussing on the work of Iraqi poet Zêdan Xelef, who works in this dialect also known as Northern Kurdish.”
They add:
“Our online poetry translation workshops can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Join like-minded poetry lovers from across the world to discover new poetry and different cultures, share insights and language skills, working together to open up a poem in its original language and reassemble it in English.
“We have had participants from the UK, Egypt, Germany, India and the Philippines. The workshops are the perfect way to keep you feeling creative, engaged and connected to the world at large. A rough and ready guide translation is provided by the guest translator so there is no need to know the language being translated, simply sign up and bring your love of language.
“This online workshop will take place over two 90-minute sessions on Zoom over two consecutive Tuesdays. This format will let us spend time with a single poetic voice. The sessions will be lead by translator Bryar Bajalan who is an expert in the language, and the professional poet and translator David Shook. They will offer insight into the nuances of the language and culture, and give helpful suggestions for the direction of the translation that is produced.”
The workshop, which will be delivered through Zoom, is pay-what-you-can. Find out more at the Poetry Translation Centre website.

Translating Children’s Books: Sawad Hussain on 'The Djinn's Apple'
2021-07-20 15:00 - 16:15 (Europe/Helsinki)
Two translators and their publishers offer key insights into bringing a pair of titles – a longer picture book and a YA novel – to UK bookshelves. They’ll explore the process, the challenges, the funding and the market for children’s books in translation, as well as what makes their collaborations special. B.J. Epstein will be discussing her translation from the Swedish of The Bird Within Me by Sara Lundberg, shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal 2021, with publisher Greet Pauwelijn of Book Island; while together with publisher Archna Sharma of Neem Tree Press, Sawad Hussain will talk about her translation from the Algerian Arabic of The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani. This event is chaired by Sarah Ardizzone.

Pop-up Book Club Discussion of Adania Shibli's 'Minor Detail'
2021-07-18 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
Sahar Mustafah and Susan Darraj will lead a virtual pop-up book club discussion on Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail, which is this year’s 1 Book, Many Communities selection from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine. Find more information on their Instagram.

Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian Prison
2021-07-15 21:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York)
This panel will feature a discussion with Egyptian writer Ahmed Naji about his time spent in a Cairene prison for violating public decency laws in his second novel, Using Life. Being a prisoner forced Ahmed to examine the role of literature in society; meet the fabled Average Reader and a man named Rhinoceros; and confront his own ambivalence in calling himself a writer. The basis for this panel will be Ahmed’s recent essay in the Believer Magazine.

Female Voices in Arabic Literature
2021-07-15 13:30 - 14:30 (Europe/Paris)
Join our panel as they discuss issues of translation, feminism, tradition and recognition in contemporary female Arab literature, in an exchange designed to open up fresh perspectives of women’s writing and Arab culture for everyone.
Speakers:

Sawad Hussain is an Arabic translator and litterateur who is passionate about bringing narratives from the African continent to wider audiences. Her translations have been recognized by English PEN, the Anglo-Omani Society and the Palestine Book Awards, among others. She has forthcoming translations from Fitzcarraldo Editions, MacLehose Press, and Dedalus Books.
Dr Marlé Hammond is currently Senior Lecturer in Arabic Popular Literature & Culture at SOAS University of London where she teaches courses on Arabic literature and Middle Eastern and North African cinema. Previously, she was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2010) and a St John’s College Research Centre Fellow (2002-2006) at Oxford University.
Iman Mersal is a renowned Egyptian poet, writer, academic and translator. She works as an Associate professor of Arabic literature and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Marseille, France. An anthology of her works was translated into more than twenty languages and she has five poetry collections published. Her work Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat) won a Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Literature in 2021.

The panel is chaired by Marcia Lynx Qualey, literary critic and editor who runs the Arab Lit website and co-hosts the Bulaq podcast.
The webinar will be held live on Zoom at 1:30 PM BST / GMT+1 with simultaneous Arabic interpretation. For more information and to register, visit https://thebookseller.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yOEL-LjUTD62lxhixzjs2g. Tickets are free for all.

Launch Event for the “Palestine Voices” Issue of World Literature Today
2021-07-15 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
From World Literature Today:
“Join us for a special event to discuss the newly launched “Palestine Voices” issue of World Literature Today hosted by Yousef Khanfar, who guest-edited the issue, and Daniel Simon, editor in chief of WLT, and featuring the contributing writers, poets, artists, and translators.
“Topics will include discussion of the Arabic language; the writers discussing their essays, poetry, short stories, and interviews featured in the issue; as well as comments by the artists and photographers about their work included in the issue. There will also be a Q&A opportunity to discuss these and other topics with the contributors. We will also give away several copies of the issue to attendees throughout the event.
“Preregistration is required.”

Politics of Literature
2021-07-14 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/Moscow)
The Istanbul branch of Columbia Global Centers is hosting a workshop discussing the engagement of literary figures in the turbulent politics of the turn-of-the-century, organized by Zeynep Çelik and Merve İspahani.

BILA HUDOOD: Young Adult Lit
2021-07-11 18:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
Young Adult literature in Arabic is a small but extraordinarily vibrant space, which has seen steady growth in the last decade, with new literary prizes, new sub-genres, and a growing appetite for new books among young readers. Among these fantastic new worlds, readers will find time-travel fantasies, science fictional futures, magical realism, detective tales, and more.
This panel will be led by leading expert on Arabic YA Susanne Abou Ghaida, who will be joined by three YA writers: by Palestinian-Jordanian novelist Taghreed Najjar, Syrian novelist Maria Dadouch, and Egyptian novelist and translator Ahmed al-Mahdi.
There is no need to register.
You can simply show up at the YouTube page to join. However, if you would like a reminder, you can get one via this Facebook event page or EventBrite.

BILA HUDOOD: These Literary Truths
2021-07-10 17:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
With the innovative projects like the Kayfa Ta (“How To”) series and a number of poets turning to long-form prose, there has been a new wave of Arabic literary nonfiction that weaves together deeply intimate family histories with insights into photography, the nature of silence and sleep, patriarchy, and how familial histories twine together with broader political forces. This panel, “These Literary Truths,” will be moderated by writer and editor Rima Rantisi, co-founder of Rusted Radishes magazine in Beirut. She will be joined by writer Amr Ezzat (Room 304 or How I Hid from My Dear Father for 35 Years, How To Remember Your Dreams), poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer Dunya Mikhail (The Beekeeper of Sinjar), and one of the co-founders of the Kayfa Ta project, artist and curator Maha Maamoun.
There is no need to register.
You can simply show up at the YouTube page to join. However, if you would like a reminder, you can get one via this Facebook event page or EventBrite.

BILA HUDOOD: The Taste of Letters
2021-07-10 14:30 - 15:30 (Europe/Paris)
In 2019, a two-month food-writing workshop called “The Taste of Letters” (طعم الحروف) took place at the Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo as part of Botoun (a series of workshops, film screenings, and an exhibition that engaged with the politics of food). “The Taste of Letters” became the title of a collection of texts that emerged from the workshop, and they appeared in English translation as part of the Summer 2021 issue of ArabLit Quarterly, guest-edited by Nour Kamel. In this panel, moderated by Nour Kamel, writers reflect on the various tastes that make up food writing in and through Arabic. Kamel is joined by writer, researcher, and filmmaker Salma Serry; the genre-spanning author of Food for Copts (2017) Charles Akl; and Mariam Boctor a member of Botoun’s curatorial team who helped facilitate “The Taste of Letters” workshop and translated some of its texts into English.
Supported in part by ArabLit Quarterly magazine, in honor of its summer issue, THE KITCHEN.
There is no need to register.
You can simply show up at the YouTube page to join. However, if you would like a reminder, you can get one via this Facebook event page or EventBrite.

BILA HUDOOD: African Narratives in Arabic Publishing
2021-07-10 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/Paris)
This panel will delve into the experiences of Ahmed Val Bin El Dine and Ishraga Mustafa, two African writers publishing in the Arabic literary sphere. What challenges have they faced, if any? What lessons have they learnt? What is their view on translation? We will also discuss their journey as writers, focusing on their works published and what is to come.
The session will be moderated by Sawad Hussain.
You can simply show up at the YouTube page to join. However, if you would like a reminder, you can get one via this Facebook event page or EventBrite.

BILA HUDOOD: Arabic Literature in Berlin
2021-07-09 18:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Paris)
This panel shines a spotlight on Berlin as a centre of Arabic-language literary production. Prose writer Haytham El-Wardany, playwright Liwaa Yazji, and Arabic-German translator Sandra Hetzl will reflect on the recent upsurge of Arabic writing taking place in the city and discuss themes and styles that emerge in this body of work, and the inspiration they find for their own practice. We will discuss the infrastructure that supports this creativity, and ask whether Berlin is doing enough to support its non-German writers. We’ll also examine some of the challenges of being an Arab writer in Berlin. Panelists will read short extracts from recent work they’ve written in or about Berlin. Moderated by Katharine Halls.

This panel is in association with Khan Aljanub, Berlin’s leading Arabic bookshop.

There is no need to register.

You can simply show up at the YouTube page to join. However, if you would like a reminder, you can get one via this Facebook event page or EventBrite.

'Arab Authors and Representations of Sexuality'
2021-07-07 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/Helsinki)
This webinar, hosted by Columbia Global Centers, will bring together authors to reflect on their works and share their experience with belonging, and how their seminal work is advancing the discourse on LGBTQ+ rights within nationalistic political discourses in the societies in which they reside.

Mawaqif (1968–1994): Notes from Beirut’s Long Sixties
2021-07-06 17:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
For PalREAD’s Mighty Magazines Online Series, Yvonne Albers will present her work on “Mawaqif (1968–1994): Notes from Beirut’s Long Sixties” from 5-6pm (CEST). More information here, sign up for the event here.
