The first prize, worth €20,000, will be equally divided between the winning author and translator. Two runners-up and their translators will receive a prize of €1,000 each.
Ashraf Fayadh’s Death Sentence Repealed; New Ruling Sentences Poet to 8 Years, 800 Lashes
"The higher court reversed the previous death-sentence ruling and replaced it with eight years, eight hundred lashes, and public repentance. "
Words Without Borders Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue: Writers Respond
Authors Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi and Chana Morgenstern responded yesterday to a piece that ran in Electronic Intifada, arguing that their series of literary dispatches violates the Palestinian boycott call.
Words Without Borders to Host Literary Blog Series from Palestine, Israel
WWB just announced a new blog series, hosted by MFA Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi and PhD in Comp Lit Chana M., that promises to explore literature and cross-cultural dialogues "in the Middle East" (although this, perhaps, is an editor's headline; the authors only talk about Palestine and Israel). Generally I blanch a bit at … Continue reading Words Without Borders to Host Literary Blog Series from Palestine, Israel
Suheir Hammad: On the Brink of… for Rachel Corrie
Suheir Hammad writes and performs her poetry in English (not Arabic), but some days, who cares about these distinctions?
Tolstoy and Shakespeare Are Palestinians
I'm a bit late in finding it, but Claire Falcon on FREE THE BLOG apparently wrote about Adania Shibli and Ala Hlehel's Beirut39 reading in London last month. There were the sorts of questions and answers to be expected (Don't you want dialogue with Israeli authors? When they recognize my rights), and then a question … Continue reading Tolstoy and Shakespeare Are Palestinians
PalFest an ‘Attack on Arabic’?
Yesterday's PalFest wrap-up in Al Jazeera, penned by Sousan Hammad, provides sharp criticism for this and other literary events in the region. Her main criticism is that core PalFest events---as at the big Abu Dhabi and Emirates lit festivals---take place in English. And at some PalFest events, unlike the Emirati festivals, simultaneous translation was apparently … Continue reading PalFest an ‘Attack on Arabic’?
PalFest Wraps Up With Personal Readings
PalFest wrapped up yesterday with a final event at the African Community Society in Jerusalem. I haven't seen video or tweets about the event, but each participant was set to read "a passage that means something personal to them." The one wrap-up article I did find was from NYTimes correspondent Ethan Bronner, who talks about … Continue reading PalFest Wraps Up With Personal Readings
PalFest Day 2: Palestine Like a Humor-writing Masterclass
In his Day 2 blog on the PalFest website, author William Sutcliffe writes about his reading, given in a Turkish bath, and about what being in Palestine has taught him about humor: As a writer who has spent most of my career pursuing comic fiction, worrying away at the nexus between laughter and pain that … Continue reading PalFest Day 2: Palestine Like a Humor-writing Masterclass
Suad Amiry on the Difficulties of Literary Journalism in Palestine
PalFest---the annual Palestinian Festival of Literature---begins tonight in Jerusalem. The night before its kickoff, Ramallah-based author Suad Amiry talked in Cairo about her new nonfiction book, Nothing to Lose But Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey with Murad. Amiry was joined by Palestinian-Australian YA author Randa Abdel Fattah and the new Managing Director of Bloomsbury Qatar, … Continue reading Suad Amiry on the Difficulties of Literary Journalism in Palestine
