The Second Erasure: How Do We Speak of (and with) Political Prisoners?
How do we speak of political prisoners while they are still inside, and how do we speak with them once they're out? This is not a question about representation, but rather about production; about what we manufacture when we speak or write about political prisoners ...
On ‘Desert Imaginations’ and the Meaning of Saharanism
"In Desert Imaginations, Brahim El Guabli draws on literature, colonial history and other fields to articulate a new conceptual framework — Saharanism — that, much like Orientalism more generally, facilitates the exploitation of desert spaces." ...
The Compromises of Bread-Making
"[Milad's] progressive ideas make the reader want to root for him, only to give up a page later because of his lack of conviction. The author keeps this back-and-forth rhythm up until the very last pages, exploring Milad’s individual liberation within and outside of traditional gender roles." ...
Alis al-Bustani’s ‘Sa’iba’ and the Arab Nahda
A Victorian gothic novel and an Ottoman-Arabic context – could such a peculiar combination be the ultimate manifestation of early Nahda production? Sa’iba, Alis al-Bustani’s first and only novel, is a product of Arab modernity, born from the introduction of European literature to the Arab intellectual during the renaissance of the nineteenth century, a context very familiar to the author ...
On Ansam Abu Sitta’s ‘Bench of the Reserves’
As part of an initiative by Alaan Publishers to publish the works of 12 Gazan writers, Ansam Abu Sitta’s دكة الاحتياط (Bench of the Reserves), published in Arabic in 2026, is a collection of 18 short stories that move between realism and highly condensed symbolism ...
Alaa Alqaisi and What Caution Cannot Do
Today is the Dublin launch of ArabLit contributor Alaa Alqaisi’s The Thin Border: Living in Extra Time. It is available through Skein Press ...
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 ...
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 ...
