“So I felt like, Okay, this is my domain, this is literature. It wasn’t Arabic any more, it was literature. And that was my way in.”
Read moreThe DC Arab Literature Festival: Narrating the Middle East
“Narrating the Middle East” is an exciting virtual Arab literary festival taking place on Tuesday, May 17 and Wednesday May 18, 2022.
Read moreFrankfurt Book Fair Livestream: Publishing Arab Literature – Difficulties and Experiences from a Publisher’s Perspective
Lena Bopp discusses the challenges of publishing Arabic literature and other issues with Rasha al Ameer, Piero Salabè and Yasmina Jraissati at Frankfurt Book Fair.
Read moreFrankfurt Book Fair Livestream: Untapped Potential of Arabic Literature
While more writing from across the Arab world is being translated into other languages, a vast number of classics and modern works of Arabic literature remain untranslated. Our panel of experts on Arabic literature explores the reasons why many great Arabic writers are not yet translated, what makes Arabic literature so rich and varied, and which writers they believe deserve more international attention. They also explore how publishers and readers can get to know the deep canon of great works from the diverse Arab world. Hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and Publishing Perspectives.
Read moreYasmina Jraissati: ‘For Now, It’s the Syrian Wave’
“I think one of the issues we have is that, in the US, the book industry is, well, very industrial. Most editors know exactly what they’re looking for, what would fit with their house’s identity, their target readership, their marketing strategy, their catalog of the following Spring.”
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On the ‘Boom’ of Syrian Literature in Berlin
In the last five years, there has been a surge of interest in Syrian writing in German translation. In this series of interviews, writers, poets, publishers, and artists in Berlin talk about their experience with the publishing industry in Germany and beyond.
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Mysterious Fort, Familiar Alley: Mahfouz’s ‘Lost’ Collection
“It’s all so damn tantalizing, you know?”
Read moreWho Sees Arabic Literature (in Translation)? Who Reads It?
This week, Yasmina Jraissati writes in L’Orient Littéraire about the relative visibility (or invisibility) of Arabic literature in Western markets.
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