On the Scottish Bilingual Publishing House ‘Sunono’ & the Importance of Chapter Books for Kids
Sunono Publishing -- a Scotland-based bilingual book operation -- is one of the newer publishers making an impact on the landscape of Arabic children's literature and translation. This month, Sunono brings out an English edition of their beloved chapter book الرقم 25, translated by ArabLit editor M Lynx Qualey. We talk author Feda Shtia, who launched Sunono in 2018 "with the aim of creating books that encourage children to read and learn Arabic with pleasure." What made you want to start Sunono Publishing? Feda Shtia: I wanted to reach out to Arab readers abroad via children’s book in Arabic and in English, published in two different editions, so that they could read Arab stories in whichever language they can access. I also ...
’10/11 Heralds the Turning of a Page’: Sandra Hetzl & Katharine Halls on Their New Literary Agency
By M Lynx Qualey Headed up by Sandra Hetzl, Katharine Halls, and Alice Guthrie, 10/11 is "a literary agency operating in Europe that specializes in bold, exciting, contemporary Arabic literature." They represent a select group of literary writers that includes Haytham El-Wardany, Rasha Abbas, Ahmed Naji, Bushra Khalfan, and Mohammad Rabie. Here, two of 10/11's agents talk about their tastes and selection criteria, how they divide their work, and what they love (and don't) about literary agenting. Where does the name 10/11 come from? Sandra: There are several aspects to the name. Firstly, I was looking for something that would be easy to pronounce in both Arabic and English – and what could be more convenient than numbers, which can ...
‘I Cannot Ignore the Pain in People’s Faces’: Badriyah al-Badri on Writing About Expatriate Workers in Oman
A Conversation with Katherine Van de Vate In 2021, the Omani poet Badriyah Al-Badri made history as the first woman to win Qatar’s prestigious Katara Prize for Poetry, earning the accolade of "The Prophet's Poet." Al-Badri’s output, however, extends far beyond poetry. She has written four novels for adults: ما وراء الفقد (Beyond Loss), العبور الأخير (The Last Crossing), ظل هيرمافروديتوس (chosen as Oman’s best novel in 2019), and Fombi. The first is a love story set against the echoes of the Arab Spring; the second chronicles the lives of migrant laborers in Oman; the third explores transgender identity; and the fourth is about Belgian colonization of the Congo. Al-Badri is also the author of numerous award-winning collections of poetry ...
The ‘Strange, Somewhat Miraculous’ Tale of Translating Lena Merhej’s ‘Yoghurt and Jam’
Lena Merhej's Yoghurt and Jam (or how my mother became Lebanese) first appeared in Arabic in 2011, and has since been published in French, Spanish, and Italian translations. This year, an English translation -- by Nadiyah Abdullatif and Anam Zafar -- will come out from the UK- and Singapore-based Balestier Press. Back in 2015, we published an interview with Simona Gabrieli, co-translator (with Marianne Babut) of the French edition of Yoghurt and Jam. Eight years later, we are pleased to finally have a chance to talk with both Lena and the book's English co-translators. Anam and Nadiyah, what drew you to this book? How did you come across it (and how do you, generally, discover new graphic novels that you enjoy)? Nadiyah ...
‘History of Ash’: A Discussion on Light, Darkness, and Writing and Translating the Political Prisoner
By M Lynx Qualey Published this month by Hoopoe Fiction, History of Ash is a fictional prison account narrated in turns by Mouline and Leila, both imprisoned for their political activities during Morocco's "Years of Lead," a period in the 1970s and '80s characterized by heavy-handed state repression. The novel, published in 2000, arrived during a new period, when authors and former prisoners were beginning to narrate their experiences. Earlier this week, we ran an excerpt from the novel, tr. Alex Elinson, and a list of Arab prison narratives compiled by Elinson and ArabLit staff. Today, we have a three-way conversation about History of Ash that brings together author and translator. Khadija, one of the things that really struck me about the political ...
Arab Women of Words: Conversation With 9 Industry Leaders
For this year’s Women in Translation Month, we wanted to introduce readers to a few of the women in key roles across the publishing industries across countries in the Maghreb and Mashreq ...
Researching the Past: A Conversation with Iman Mersal
It's publication week for Traces of Enayat. Read an excerpt from the book, an excerpt from Enayat al-Zayyat's Love & Silence, and, here, a conversation with the author. By Tugrul Mende In Iman Mersal’s award-winning Traces of Enayat, translated by Robin Moger and published by And Other Stories, she takes the reader on a journey to discover who Enayat al-Zayyat (1936-63) was. In her genre-encompassing book, Mersal works to uncover the mystery of Enayat by going through personal and official archives, helping us understand the life of Enayat and the times in which she was living. In this interview, Mersal talks about the process of writing about Enayat and what it meant to be a woman writer in Cairo in the 1960s. When ...
On Translating Khaled Khalifa: A Conversation with Leri Price
By Tugrul Mende This July, Khaled Khalifa‘s No One Prayed Over Their Graves was published in Leri Price‘s translation. Price has several long-term relationships with authors. Her second book by Samar Yazbek is coming out next year, and this was her fourth translation of a novel by Khalifa. No One Prayed Over Their Graves is a historical novel set in early 20th century Aleppo. In this conversation, Leri Price talks about the process of translating this novel, working with Khaled Khalifa and where this book fits in his overall oeuvre, and lastly she shares advice for emerging translators. How different was your process in translating this novel, vs. his other novels? Leri Price: I think because this is the fourth ...
Summer Reads: ‘On Fiction’s Uneaten Meals’: A Talk with Donia Kamal
" Cooking is a central way in which the narrator feels; it reflects her state of mind and how she perceives the events and people around her. So it was more important for me to write about the process of making the food rather than about people eating it." ...
From ‘Russian-Arab Literary Worlds,’ A Talk with Khalil Alrez
"The zoo in the Russian quarter is not Russian. Like any zoo in the world, it is a place of estrangement where animals reside far from their natural habitats and countries of origin." ...
