#WiTMonth Conversations: Shahla Ujayli and Getting Raqqa Back Through Writing
“Raqqa is no longer the city I knew; I belong to a place that no longer exists. I try to get it back through writing.”
Women in Translation Month
New Lit: Baya Mahieddine’s ‘The Great Great Big Bird’
“Le Grand Zoiseau” narrates the story of a little girl who wants to marry, and, seeing her mother deny her the right, she takes matters into her own magic hands.
Sunday Classics: Erotic Surrealist Poet Joyce Mansour
“Mansour took much of her inspiration from ancient religions and traditions, including ancient Egypt, where death is not considered to be the end of life, but rather is a transition to another reality.”
On Latifa al-Zayyat Day: ‘Her Laughter Brought Me Up Short’
“The woman was always surprising me with her continuous, sometimes abrupt, and loud laughter; and then she no longer surprised me — I got used to and grew to love both Latifa herself and her laughter.”
#TranslateThis YA: An Excerpt of Fatima Sharafeddine’s Award-winning ‘Cappuccino’
“A bitter, metallic taste rises to my tongue. I take a deep breath, put my key in the lock, and shove open the door.”
Asmaa Azaizeh’s ‘Dragonflies’ in Three Languages
“Every time we stopped in the shade of a tree, / one of us would shout: ‘Here we are!’ / A fantasy mightier than mountains.”
#WiTMonth Selections: 5 Folktale-inspired Stories Translated from Arabic
This Women in Translation Month (#WiTMonth) Wednesday, five selected short stories from five different countries that are re-tellings or inventions of folktale narratives.
#WiTMonth Conversations: Karima Ahdad on ‘Cactus Girls’
“I also believe writing should be accessible. This era needs a kind of writing that can reach the new generation, connect with their emotional lives, and encourage them to enjoy reading. That calls for clear, simple writing which draws its subjects, its metaphors, and its aesthetic from today’s language and imagination.”
New Lit: Excerpt of Stella Gaitano’s ‘The Souls of Eddo’
This first Monday of Women in Translation Month, Sawad Hussain and Stella Gaitano share this excerpt from her novel The Souls of Eddo, winner of a PEN Translates Prize