PEN America today released a statement condemning Tunisian President Kais Saied, who, they write, “gave a speech about freedom of thought to open the country’s national book fair, only to then have security agents of the state order the confiscation of a book, The Tunisian Frankenstein by author Kamel Riahi.” .
Again, remember, writers must be living to play, so sadly no Saghir Oulad Ahmed, Mahmoud Messadi, Muhammad Salih al-Jabri, Houcine El Oued, or Aboul-Qacem Echebbi.
Jadaliyya‘s culture section has suddenly burst back into flower this new year, with work by three different poets, two novel excerpts, and a short story. NOVEL EXCERPTS A short excerpt […]
As I waited on news this morning about a rumored coup in Tunisia, I thought I’d re-read Kamel Riahi, who says of his stories that they reflect “the lives of the poor [in Tunisia], the homeless, the shoe polishers, الشطّار, young criminals, prostitutes, crushed employees, sailors and street peddlers.”
Publishing Perspectives had a piece yesterday about the “Arabic Booker’s” first nadwa (held last November), and the fiction anthology it has spawned: Emerging Arab Voices: Nadwa 1.
When the latest issue of Banipal was released (39: Tunisian Literature), the MLA Division on Arabic Literature and Culture commented on Facebook:
New Banipal issue is devoted to Tunisian Literature–a nice gesture, but is that really it? Is that Tunisian literature? (Anyhow, let’s just say, it’s better than nothing)
