Author Samar Yazbek and translator Leri Price have been longlisted for the 2021 National Book Award in the “Translated Literature” category.
Read more
Author Samar Yazbek and translator Leri Price have been longlisted for the 2021 National Book Award in the “Translated Literature” category.
Read more“The no-hair phenomenon certainly has a backstory. “
Read more“At the time of writing the novella, I was preoccupied with a question: Is there is free will? Naturally, this question led to others: And how does it fit in a socially controlled life? How can individuals who arrived to London, not by choice, escape the new constraints?”
Read more“Of course, I do enjoy painting for you, right now, a slightly more calamitous situation than the one I actually face – I blame Algerian fiction’s long love affair with tragedies for my theatrics. But the truth is still harsh.”
Read moreWe “reclaim” land from water, taking back what was never given / We worship our own footsteps, replacing the water’s sheen
Read more“The next day, he was watching a livestream on television when he saw his dream on the screen. The streets of Beirut were flooded with mounds of garbage. This was the first step, he thought. Next, the piles of rubble would appear, and the people would vanish, leaving the buildings deserted.”
Read more“A study of Coptic school sandwiches – or how to get your mother to make you the best chicken sandwich in the world.”
Read more“Angels don’t cook / Poetry is inedible / What will we eat today? Legends?”
Read more“Haifa is a friend, and translating her every day felt like having her close by all the time. Her stories are meditative. Translating her became a ritual for me. It got me through some of the darkest days of my life.”
Read more