‘Every Time I Leave the House’: New Poetry by Haidar al-Ghazali
This poem was inadvertently left out of the THIS MOMENT section of ArabLit Quarterly's "Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!" section. We will be correcting future issues but also encourage you to read it here. By Haidar al-Ghazali Every time I leave the house, I bid him farewell for I may not come back. Dressed up fancy to go out and about, you would find me looking elegant, and ready to step out if you saw me during the war ...
From Reem al-Kamali’s ‘Rose’s Diaries’
Yesterday, we talked with Chip Rossetti about his translation of Reem Al Kamali's International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted Rose's Diaries. Today, we have an excerpt from the middle of the novel, where the narrator recalls her lost nuclear family. 58. I sighed internally for your sake, Father. All my memories of you were of you putting to sea with sails white like a dove’s wing, but no sooner did the dāʿī winds spring up, each one ...
On Translating a Novel of Might-have-beens in ’60s Dubai
New publishing house ELF Publishing has brought out Emirati author Reem Al Kamali's International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted Rose's Diaries in Chip Rossetti's English translation. The novel, set in 1960s Dubai, is told through the eyes of a young woman named Ruza who wants a much larger life for herself -- of travel, scholarship, and adventure -- but is hemmed by family after the deaths of her parents. In this conversation, we talk about why ...
Fiction
From Reem al-Kamali’s ‘Rose’s Diaries’
Yesterday, we talked with Chip Rossetti about his translation of Reem Al Kamali’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted Rose’s Diaries. Today, we have an excerpt from the middle of the novel, where the narrator recalls her lost nuclear family. 58. I ...
From Osama al-Eissa’s ‘The Madmen of Bethlehem’
Osama al-Eissa was shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction, for his The Seventh Heaven of Jerusalem, awarded to fellow Palestinian writer Basim Khandaqji for his fourth novel, A Mask, the Color of the Sky. Al-Eissa’s Madmen of ...
An Excerpt from Falah Raheem’s ‘Hedgehogs on a Hot Day’
In a recent interview, we asked Iraqi writer Duna Ghali which Iraqi writers she recommends; she pointed us to Falah Raheem, whose Hedgehogs on a Hot Day was published to great acclaim in Arabic in 2012. The novel is available now in ...
Poetry
‘Every Time I Leave the House’: New Poetry by Haidar al-Ghazali
This poem was inadvertently left out of the THIS MOMENT section of ArabLit Quarterly’s “Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!” section. We will be correcting ...
‘Houses That Cling to the Tongue’: New Poetry by Mahmoud Kiralla
Houses That Cling to the Tongue By Mahmoud Kiralla Translated by Tamer Fathy Mabrouk When I was young, the train ...
‘They Prepare for their Weddings’: New Poetry by Atef Alshaer
We have one poem by Atef Alshaer in the Spring 2024 issue of ArabLit Quarterly, in partnership with Majalla 28, ...
Interviews
On Translating a Novel of Might-have-beens in ’60s Dubai
New publishing house ELF Publishing has brought out Emirati author Reem Al Kamali’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted Rose’s Diaries ...
Shakir Mustafa on the Obstacles to Translating Iraqi Literature into English
Shakir Mustafa was a scholar focused on Irish literature and drama in 2003 and 2004 when the invasion and occupation ...
Recommendations: On the New Wave of Memoirs from Iraq
Editor’s note: Publishers who are interested in Iraqi literatures will find more in our May Publishers Newsletter, out on May ...
Country Focus
From the archives
Egyptian Novelist Shady Lewis on Coptic Identity, Church-State Relations, and Citizenship
“In Ways of the Lord, Christians are mistaken for being Jews and are accused of spying for Israel, which demonstrates the lack of recognition of Copts and their conflation with other minorities.”
Teaching with Arabic Literature in Translation: Pairing Arabic Literature and Film
“Iraq is just one example, but there are so many corners of this thing we call ‘Arabic Literature’ that are worthy of more attention than they get. I hope that we will see more of this literature make its way into university reading lists.”
Jonathan Smolin on the Relationship Between Ihsan Abdel Kouddous’s Politics and His Novels
“My book really is an examination of how he participated in the coup ,and how he believed fundamentally that the Free Officers were going to install democracy, and—once he realized that they were actually installing military dictatorship—the way he dissented, in the editorials and in person, the way that he was jailed, and the way he turned to fiction to express his dissent directly to Nasser.”