One Year in Prison Without Charges: Poet Ashraf Fayadh (Palestine/Saudi Arabia)
Once again, our friends at Arabic Literature (in English) are drawing attention to the plight of yet another writer held by the authorities in Saudi Arabia. Palestinian poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh was arrested by Saudi authorities on January 1, 2014 — charged with “insulting the Godly self and having long hair” — and has yet to face...
Monday Interview: Adonis (Lebanon/Syria)
Adonis (أدونيس, eigtl. Ali Ahmad Said Esber) gilt als bedeutendster arabischer Lyriker der Gegenwart. Er wurde 1930 in Qassabin in Nordsyrien geboren. Durch Rückgriff auf klassische arabische Dichter, die oftmals keine Tabus kannten und kritisch gegenüber der Religion waren, versucht er, diese Offenheit neu zu beleben. Neben seinen Gedichten erregte er durch seine kritischen Essays immer...
Arab World / Arabische Welt / Freedom of Speech / Human Rights / Literatur / Literature / Meinungsfreiheit / Menschenrechte
Solidarity with Threatened Algerian Novelist Kamel Daoud
Our friends at Arabic Literature (in English) recently posted the disturbing news of a call by Algerian Salafi leader Abdelfatah Hamadache — called “un obscure salafiste” by the paper Le Matin — for the death of award-winning Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud. On December 16, Salafi leader Abdelfatah Hamadache declared a fatwa condemning the writer and journalist Kamel Daoud to death. The declaration to...
Arab World / Arabische Welt / Bibliotheken / Childrens Literature / Kinder- und Jugendliteratur / Libraries
Help Rebuild the IBBY Libraries in Gaza
Our Friends at Arabic Literature (in English) have published this appeal, and we are happy to re-publish it here and urge you to consider contributing to this project. The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has helped fund, supply, and train staff at two libraries in Gaza. One saw damage when it was occupied by...
The Poet Cannot Stand Aside: Arabic Literature and Exile
Marcia Lynx Qualey, whose blog Arabic Literature (in English) we cannot but admire, has published this remarkable analysis in Words without Borders, as part of their September issue on Exile. We highly recommend both sites to everyone who is really interested in what goes on in world literatures. Fourteen hundred years ago and more, the poet-prince...
‘I Do Not Wish For You To See Gaza As Anything But a Rose’
Our friends at Arabic Literature (in English) have just posted this moving piece. Gaza-based writer Hedaya Shamun writes — although her writing rituals have disappeared — about the world she sees around her in the first and second nights of “Operation Protective Edge.” Translation by Ghada Mourad and Tyson Patros: By Hedaya Shamun All the writing...
Die großen Buchmessen der Welt (III): Cairo International Book Fair – ein Riese bröckelt
In dieser Serie stelle ich Ihnen in lockerer Folge die wichtigsten Buchmessen der Welt vor. Heute: Die Cairo International Book Fair Noch bis zum 6. Februar läuft die diesjährige Kairo International Book Fair – wenn nichts dazwischen kommt, was angesichts der Entwicklungen der vergangenen Tage nicht auszuschließen ist. 755 Aussteller aus 24 Ländern nehmen nach...
Science Fiction in Arabic: “It Was Not Born All of a Sudden”
As you know, we are big fans of our friends at Arabic Literature (in English). We found this interview by Chiara Comito with Ada Barbaro on the background of Science Fiction in Arabic Literature particularly interesting. It was first published on ArabLit’s sister-site in Italian, editoriaraba. Enjoy! Editoriaraba: Has science fiction in Arabic always existed...
Get Connected