Launching the MIRRORS Issue: Recovering Their Medieval Magic
In the pieces included here, men seem more likely to link mirrors to a past, while for women they are part of an encircling present.
Jonas Elbousty
Ahlam Mosteghanemi: A Writer’s Journey of Love for and Devotion to Arabic Literature
“Arabic was my father’s choice, not mine; he wanted me to avenge him, as he was deprived of learning it by the French colonizer, who declared war on the Arabic language as a way of stripping Algerians of their identity.”
Mohamed Boukhza on Mohamed Choukri: ‘Romantic, Short-tempered,’ and with No Time for Hypocrites or Flatterers
“He was a multi-faceted person: romantic, short tempered, and self-loving with a high self-esteem. When surrounded by friends he liked, he would laugh hysterically. In him there was a mixture of spontaneity, adventure, and shrewdness. He was not malicious, and he believed in what he wrote.”