Friday Finds: Two Poems by Ameer Hamad This week, Asymptote featured two poems by the multi-award-winning young Palestinian poet and short-story writer Ameer Hamad, translated by Katharine Halls: Asymptote editors write: These two poems translated by Katharine Halls are small enough to carry in one’s palm; they utilise a mode of poetic witness attuned to
’67 Children’: A Friday Poem by Ahlam Bsharat
’67 Children’: A Friday Poem by Ahlam Bsharat Poet Ahlam Bsharat explains that Friday is a traditional day for bathing children, and this Friday 67 Palestinian children are gone, having been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza that started May 10: The poem is untitled. By Ahlam Bsharat Translated by M Lynx Qualey 67
Continue reading ’67 Children’: A Friday Poem by Ahlam Bsharat
The Challenges (and Possibilities) of Translating Literary Scholarship
What is the effect of these gaps? But Yemeni artists persevere in the face of those hardships. In the translation of drama, for instance, there is special focus on easy and natural dialogue. I also noticed that I had not read a similar analytical article in Arabic. That kind of courage should be celebrated, in
Continue reading The Challenges (and Possibilities) of Translating Literary Scholarship
From ‘Your Name, Palestine’ by Olivia Elias
Olivia Elias draws from the “heart and the wind playing between high hills and deserts” the strength, and determination, to question the doom that came to her hometown. She is the author of books of poetry in English, including The Nerve Epistle (Fall of 2021), Eavesdrop (Chax, 2020), Waterwork (Chax, 2007), Chain of Minuscule Decisions in the Form of a Feeling (Reality Street,
Continue reading From ‘Your Name, Palestine’ by Olivia Elias
‘A Poetics of Return’: Talking Migration and Return with Wessam Elmeligi
In Arabic literature, there is the concept of hijra or migration and there are also travelogues. Did you leave out some novels that you would have liked to include? WE: There were novels that I thought of including, but I had to be very strict with myself. At a certain point, I even thought of
Continue reading ‘A Poetics of Return’: Talking Migration and Return with Wessam Elmeligi
‘Notebooks of the Booksellers’ Wins 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
‘Notebooks of the Booksellers’ Wins 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction Organizers today announced the winner of the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction in an online ceremony. However, Bazih praised the books listed for the prize, saying that the judges’ selection of the shortlist and winner was far from easy, and that their deep
Continue reading ‘Notebooks of the Booksellers’ Wins 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
‘The Cat Cow’ by Ahlam Bsharat
Her books have received many awards and recommendations. Ismee Alharakee Farasha (translated into the English as Code Name: Butterfly) was included in the IBBY Honor List for 2012, a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books from more than seventy countries. Ismee Alharakee Farasha and Ashjaar lil-Naas al-Ghaa’ibeen (translated into English as Trees for the Absentees) were both runners up for the
Sunday Submissions: Y’alla – A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature
You may submit: short stories and novels of up to 7,000 wordsup to seven poems at a timecreative and narrative non-fiction pieces or book excerpts of up to 7,000 words Find out more about the submission guidelines here and email your submissions to dena.afrasiabi@austin.utexas.edu. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us if your work
Continue reading Sunday Submissions: Y’alla – A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature
Upcoming Events: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Arabic Publishing during the Cold War & More
Get tickets for the event here. Find out more here. Afterwards, Salha Obaid and Iman Mersal explore what makes an effective period novel and discuss how they approach the past and present in their works from 7:30–8:30am GST. Upcoming Events: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Arabic Publishing during the Cold War & More A few
Friday Finds: Kayfa Ta on ‘Shapeshifting Texts and Other Publishing Tactics’
Their project is also interested in identifying the mechanisms of gatekeeping in art and publishing that “shape and limit the voices and practices that have access to a wider public.” In 2019, Kayfa ta expanded its interest into understanding the wider field of publishing and distribution. Friday Finds: Kayfa Ta on ‘Shapeshifting Texts and Other
Continue reading Friday Finds: Kayfa Ta on ‘Shapeshifting Texts and Other Publishing Tactics’
Two Lebanese Writers Were on the Nominations List for 1970 Nobel
Naimy wrote in a variety of genres, mostly in Arabic but also in English, including The Book of Mirdad and a biography of Khalil Gibran. In past years, the only Arabic-language authors nominated have been acclaimed Egyptian authors Taha Hussein and Tawfiq al-Hakim. Two Lebanese Writers Were on the Nominations List for 1970 Nobel The
Continue reading Two Lebanese Writers Were on the Nominations List for 1970 Nobel
New Poetry by Ahlam Bsharat: ‘I Saw a Dead Road on the Road’
Maya Abu Alhayyat. She completed her Master’s Degree in Arabic Literature at An-Najah National University in Nablus. Code Name: Butterfly was shortlisted for the UK-based Palestine Book Awards in 2017. Her collection Louder than Hearts won the 2016 May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. Ismee Alharakee Farasha and Ashjaar lil-Naas al-Ghaa’ibeen (translated into English as
Continue reading New Poetry by Ahlam Bsharat: ‘I Saw a Dead Road on the Road’
Banipal Issue 70: ‘Mahmoud Shukair, Writing Jerusalem’
Michael K. Issa Boullata. Also “Mordechai’s Mustache and His Wife’s Cats,” tr. More Shukair in translation, online: “Mordechai’s Mustache and His Wife’s Cats,” tr. Nicole Fares Excerpt from Praise for the Women of the Family, tr. He is the author of more than forty books, including more than a dozen for children.
Continue reading Banipal Issue 70: ‘Mahmoud Shukair, Writing Jerusalem’
#TranslateThis: 15 Great Palestinian Books for Young Readers
Since it happens each year, they all wait longingly for the day, just as a child might wait for Christmas. A radical book series that will also thrill and delight. Today’s Warshah is very much about creating possibilities for children’s-book creators to develop, and support the economic conditions for the creation of literature. At the same time,
Continue reading #TranslateThis: 15 Great Palestinian Books for Young Readers
Today: Join Palestinian & South African Poets for ‘Writing is a Cultural Weapon’
Today: Join Palestinian & South African Poets for ‘Writing is a Cultural Weapon’ This week on Africa is a Country Talk, South African and Palestinian poets will discuss their shared experiences of apartheid and resistance: They write: We feature South African writers reading the poetry and prose of Palestinian writers (with some hopefully joining us,
Continue reading Today: Join Palestinian & South African Poets for ‘Writing is a Cultural Weapon’
Monday Fiction: An Excerpt from ‘Fellini’s Shoe’
Fear flew in circles under the ceiling like a stupid buzzing bee. -Ah. -Scream it. -Say ah. and a few other things. It was deadly silent, except for a few intermittent tones. Sometimes, it seemed to me that I would never recover it, and all that would remain before my eyes at all times would
Continue reading Monday Fiction: An Excerpt from ‘Fellini’s Shoe’
Sunday Submissions: Transit Books
For translated works, you need to provide a sample translation, short bio of the author and a summary of the book, among other things. Poetry submissions are not accepted at the moment. Sunday Submissions: Transit Books Transit Books is open for submissions of translated works through June 15: They write: Transit Books publishes a carefully
Nakba Day: Free Palestinian Ebooks, Magazines, More Recommended Reading
Atef Alshaer; Sayed Kashua’s bitterly funny Native; Raba’i al-Madhoun’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted A Lady from Tel Aviv, tr. Also, there’s Palestine + 100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba, ed. Nakba Day: Free Palestinian Ebooks, Magazines, More Recommended Reading There are at least two digital Nakba Day events today; one with poet
Continue reading Nakba Day: Free Palestinian Ebooks, Magazines, More Recommended Reading
Upcoming Events: Poet Najwan Darwish, Palestine Art Week Begins, More
More about how to register at the Palestine Museum website. Register via Zoom here. May 19 As part of the Yemen in Conflict project, the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) in partnership with Writing on the Wall brings together four Yemeni female poets: Amerah Saleh, Amina Atiq, Maliha Al-Asaadi and Maysoon Aleryani will be sharing their
Continue reading Upcoming Events: Poet Najwan Darwish, Palestine Art Week Begins, More
Friday Finds: ‘Palestine Twenty Times in a Sentence’
Given enough time, whatever changes in craft may take place in them, the poems return to speak the same story. Yet always the poem survives, passes through us ‘like a miracle.’ The three translated poems are “We,” “Massacres,” and “I Don’t Ask Anymore.” The poems are unafraid to speak directly to the reader, sometimes ironically
Continue reading Friday Finds: ‘Palestine Twenty Times in a Sentence’