Literature

The absurdist frame

In Mohamed Choukri's varied and experimental collection "Tales of Tangier" the hyperreal meets the bizarre. The off-kilter stories put forward by the late author seem to be set spinning on their edges, so fast and wild they might just fly off the page

The human as board game

In her debut novel, "Der Freund" (The Friend), Kuzey Topuz has created a complex weave of fragments and perspectives. The book is all about power and influence in interpersonal relations and at a societal level. It's a masterstroke

Stories from a future republic

"Kurdistan + 100" is the third anthology in Comma Press's "future past" series, and a fourth – Egypt + 100 – is set to be published next year. Writers are asked to imagine a moment in the future connected to an event in their shared past

A daughter estranged

In his new novel "Der große Wunsch", award-winning author Sherko Fatah tells the story of a father whose daughter meets a supporter of IS and follows him to the Syrian war zone

Children to fill the entire earth

Stella Gaitano's debut novel "Edo's Souls", set between Sudan and South Sudan, stages an epic battle between the forces of Motherhood and Death

Khalil Gibran's hometown celebrates 'The Prophet' centennial

Nestled in the mountains of northern Lebanon, a museum dedicated to Khalil Gibran in his hometown of Bsharre has been celebrating the centennial of "The Prophet", the renowned author's most famous work

New literary agency for a new approach

Specialising in bold, exciting, contemporary Arabic literature, 10/11 literary agents Sandra Hetzl and Katharine Halls talk to Marcia Lynx Qualey about their tastes and selection criteria, how they divide their work, and what they love (and don't) about literary agenting

Litprom under fire

Palestinian author Adania Shibli was to have received Litprom's LiBeraturpreis at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Writers from around the world have criticised the organisation in an open letter for postponing the award ceremony. By Nikolas Fischer

PEN: No freedom for the word

Yavuz Ekinci's new novel

Armenian genocide denial is a great and enduring lie by the Turkish state, characterised by ongoing violence and racism. Yavuz Ekinci takes up the subject in an unsparing and powerful novel: "Das ferne Dorf meiner Kindheit" – 'the distant village of my childhood'. Gerrit Wustmann read the book

Sheikha Helawy's joyous, rebellious passions

Their bodies might be displaced, torn away from homes and villages. Yet the memories of women and girls in Sheikha Helawy's short-story collection "They Fell Like Stars from the Sky" remain, haunting the spaces where they once lived. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book