Osama Hammad

Osama Hammad in Conversation with Tugrul Mende

, ,

In Translation: Blurring the Line Between the Real and the Ludicrous

This December 15, Dar Arab is set to publish Belal Fadl’s The Completely True Tales of Um Mimi and Shari The Adulterer, brought to English by first-time translator Osama Hammad. This darkly humorous coming-of-age is set in a grittily, over-the-top, darkly funny 1990s Cairo. It was originally published in Arabic in 2021 and longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2022. Here, Hammad talks about how he came to translate this novel, the challenges of translating humor, and what makes this novel so special.

From Arwa Saleh to Enayat al-Zayat A Society that Reproduces its Women’s Disappointments By Moaaz Muhammad Translated by Osama Hammad

, , , ,

Tracing a Line, from Arwa to Enayat

“Every time Arwa and Enayat stepped from the private to the public, they returned disappointed. I should clarify that I am not offering an idealistic theory that assumes the world should reward people for their intentions and desires. However, I imagine that their experiences could have been less cruel in other societies that don’t seal the public sphere up so tightly.”