Arabic Theater

Sunday Submissions: Masrah Ensemble Playwriting Competition

The Masrah Ensemble is calling for submissions by Arabic-language playwrights for their playwriting competition, open until June 1, 2021.Continue Reading

One-minute Review: Plays from the Arab World

Modern Arabic theater has been graced with some excellent playwrights: Tawfiq al-Hakim, of course, who is credited with founding modern Arabic drama, and who perhaps would have won the 1988 “Arab” Nobel for Literature had he not died the year before it was awarded. Sa’adallah Wannus. Alfred Faraj. Yusuf Idris, who was also on the “shortlist” for the ’88 Nobel. (Roger Allen names many more.)

Yet little Arabic theatrical work has been translated into English.Continue Reading

Cover Reveal and Launch Event for Mona Kareem’s ‘I Will Not Fold These Maps’
On Sunday, May 14, ArabLit and the Poetry Translation Centre will co-host a launch event for Mona Kareem’s collection I Will Not Fold These Maps, translated to English by Sara Elkamel.
Encounters Between Languages: Nancy Roberts on Translating Ibrahim al-Koni’s ‘The Night Will Have Its Say’
“I was aware from the very start of the novel that one of its themes would be language, translation, and encounters between languages. This was one of the things that drew me to it, including the amusing and lyrical way the author describes the opening encounter between al-Kahina and the envoy sent by the Muslim general Hasan Ibn al-Nuꜥman.”
A Look at Hamdi Abu Golayyel, Bedouin Poetry, and ‘The Men Who Swallowed the Sun’
Translator Ibrahim Fawzy curates this special section on beloved and award-winning Egyptian novelist Hamdi Abu Golayyel, chronicler of Egypt’s dispossessed, and scribe of the poetry and culture of the Bedouin.
Iman Mersal & Robyn Creswell Make 2023 Griffin Poetry Prize Longlist with ‘The Threshold’
Organizers of the Griffin Poetry Prize — one of the world’s biggest international poetry prizes — have announced this year’s ten-book longlist. Among them was Egyptian poet Iman Mersal’s The Threshold, beautifully translated by Robyn Creswell.