What follows are a few books I hope and expect to read in 2013. Insha’allah* this list will grow. January The Silence and the Roar, Nihad Sirees, trans. Max Weiss – Pushkin Press (UK Release) Sirees’s book is a remarkable fictional… Read More ›
forthcoming 
August is Ending: New Fall Fiction, New Fall Poetry
August is ending, beach season is coming to a close, and — huzzah — there’s a new blog in town: قصص أخرى (QISASUKHRA). It’s still rather spare, but promises “excerpts of previously untranslated Arabic literary works in English.” The first entry, titled “My Mother,” is a short story by Hamdi Abu Golayyel (his Thieves in Retirement and Dog With No Tail are both in English). There’s also new late-August fiction up on World Literature Today, Jadaliyya, and probably elsewhere:
A Look at What’s New in 2012: Arab and Arabic Literature (in English)
I doubt that this list is comprehensive, particularly as concerns “Arab” diaspora literature. Please do post additions below. Also, the list is somewhat mixed & muddled where it concerns US, UK, Australian, and Egyptian release dates. In the first half… Read More ›
New Online: Stories, Poems, & More in Translation
With new issues out from Jadaliyya and Banipal, it was time to poke around the Internet for new stories, poems, novel excerpts, memoir fragments and more in translation. NOVEL EXCERPTS From The City of Images (2011), by Luay Hamza Abbas, trans. Suneela Mubayi… Read More ›
(Arab and Arabic) Literary Highlights of Winter 2012
This list is incomplete, but I didn’t want to get too far into 2012 before launching it. Please help by bringing more events to my attention. JANUARY Jan 9 Sawiris Awards announced Jan 11 International Prize for Arabic Fiction shortlist… Read More ›
Arabic Lit (in Translation): Five to Look for in 2012
What’s forthcoming in translation is not nearly as well-publicized as the big English-language novels. But here are 5 to look for in 2012: The Lady from Tel Aviv, by Rabai al-Madhoun, translated from the Arabic by Elliott Colla. The novel,… Read More ›
BQFP Picks Up English-language Rights to Sonallah Ibrahim’s ‘Beirut, Beirut’
It’s seeming less and less like a world where English-language publishers can sit around for decades, dangling their toes in the water, knowing that the best in Arabic fiction will be available whenever their feet might get used to the… Read More ›
Bloomsbury-Qatar Signs Radwa Ashour’s Novel ‘Farag’
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing has signed with novelist Radwa Ashour to translate her novel Farag into English. The novel, originally published by Dar el Shorouk in 2008, has been perhaps Ashour’s most popular work. According to Dar el Shourouk: Farag (2008)… Read More ›
Amir Tag al-Sir’s ‘Grub Hunter’ Newest Addition to African Writer Series
Yesterday, Pearson’s African Writers Series signed on Amir Tag al-Sir’s صائد اليرقات, translated by William Hutchins as The Grub Hunter.
Forthcoming this Fall from Clockroot: Books by Adania Shibli and Alexandra Chreiteh
There are two very promising Arabic books coming out from Clockroot Books this fall (in English).
Forthcoming This Fall from AUC Press: Re-Translation of Mahfouz’s Midaq Alley, a Former First Lady’s Memoir, More
I am delighted to have discovered that AUC Press also thought that a good way to celebrate the “year of Naguib Mahfouz” would be to put out at least one re-translation of the Nobel Prize-winner’s work.
New & Forthcoming: Fiction from IPAF Shortlister Bensalem Himmich, Acclaimed Fadhil al-Azzawi and Mahmoud Saeed
International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) shortlister Bensalem Himmich and 2011 IPAF judging chair Fadhil al-Azzawi both have new works of fiction coming soon in English.
