Translation

Book review: Tawfiq al-Hakim’s "Return of the Spirit"

Awaiting the day of resurrection

In 2019, the long-running Penguin Classics series released its first novel translated from Arabic: Tawfiq al-Hakim’s "Return of the Spirit", conveyed into English by William Hutchins. Al-Hakim wrote his popular novel in Paris in 1927 and published it in Cairo six years later, in 1933. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
Book review: Ibtisam Azem's "The Book of Disappearance"

We woke to find them gone

In her latest novel, "The Book of Disappearance", Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem strikes a nerve with a fantastical tale that simultaneously fascinates and moves the reader, presenting the moral drift that can set in when people are confronted with the insoluble. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
Book review: Ismail Fahd Ismail’s "The Old Woman and the River"

Hemingway, eat your heart out!

Part desert-island novel, part war story, part ‘Don Quixote’ and part folktale, the last novel by Kuwaiti writer Ismail Fahd Ismail (1940-2018) brings us the Iran-Iraq war through the eyes of a wise old fool. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
Interview with Iranian author Amir Hassan Cheheltan

"Literature is based on politics and eroticism"

Amir Hassan Cheheltan has not published a novel in Iran in 15 years. The 62-year-old author does intend to refrain from writing either about politics or eroticism, as censorship in Iran prescribes. In Europe, meanwhile, his works are enjoying increasing popularity. Eight books by Cheheltan have already been published in German. Interview by Nasrin Bassiri
Previously unpublished work

Naguib Mahfouz' "The Quarter"

Last year, Egyptian critic Mohammed Shoair made an unusual and thrilling announcement: the discovery of never-before-seen stories by Egyptʹs only Nobel laureate for literature, Naguib Mahfouz. Filed in a cardboard box in the possession of Mahfouzʹs daughter, this slender trove of texts has now yielded "The Quarter". By Marcia Lynx Qualey
Interview with Syrian author Mustafa Khalifa

"The Syrian revolution is bigger than a thousand novels"

Mustafa Khalifaʹs "The Shell – Memoirs of a Hidden Observer", which has been translated into ten languages, is one of the most famous prison novels in Arabic literature. Khaled Salameh spoke to Khalifa about the world of the novel, his identity, his country and his exile
Interview with Sudanese writer Rania Mamoun and translator Elisabeth Jaquette

For the sheer pleasure of reading

Rania Mamounʹs 10-story collection – "Thirteen Months of Sunrise" – explores the connections and walls between people and communities. Marcia Lynx Qualey had a three-way discussion with Mamoun, the bookʹs Sudanese author, and its translator, Elisabeth Jaquette, who has rendered the book into vibrant, compelling English
Portrait of the Syrian writer Shahla Ujayli

Lessons in empathy

Born into a family of celebrated Syrian authors and academics, Shahla Ujayli is herself a successful writer. Winning the Jordan State Award for Literature in 2006 with her debut publication, "The Cat's Eye", Ujayli has now been shortlisted – for the second time – for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. By Marcia Lynx Qualey
Man Booker International award

Johka Alharthi scoops a first for Arabic literature

Omani novelist Johka Alharthi confounded regional literary pundits earlier this month when she carried off the highly prestigious Man Booker International prize for "Celestial Bodies". Marcia Lynx Qualey caught up with her and the novelʹs translator, Marilyn Booth, the morning after the award was announced
Award for epistolary novel about the fate of refugees

IPAF: Hoda Barakat wins prestigious Arabic literature prize

The Lebanese writer Hoda Barakat was awarded the most important Arab literary prize on 23 April for her epistolary novel about the fate of refugees.
Book review: Mbarek Ould Beyroukʹs "The Desert and the Drum"

One of a kind

Mbarek Ould Beyroukʹs "The Desert and the Drum" centres on a young womanʹs coming-to-political-consciousness in contemporary Mauritania. Winner of an English PEN Award, this translation, from the French by Rachael McGill, is being touted as the first-ever Mauritanian novel to be published in English. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
Interview with literary translator Nabil Al Haffar

"Always distance yourself from the original text"

Considered one of the most renowned and experienced literary translators in the business, Nabil Al Haffar has received numerous awards for his work. He began translating from German into Arabic in 1974. Here he discusses his work as a translator and the challenges it presents