At the end of April, Moroccan poet Rachida Madani and poet-translator Marilyn Hacker traveled around the UK reading from Hacker’s translation of Madani’s “Tales of a Severed Head.” Here, Madani and Hacker read at Poets & Players.
poetry 
Tea Boys or Interns? Translators Tackle the Language of Najwan Darwish
The PEN Translation Slam, part of the annual PEN World Voices event in New York City, is a curious event: a poet reads a work in its original language and translators duel by reading their versions of the same work.
Someone Crazy Enough to Translate al-Mutanabbi
At this year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, I had the chance to sit down with Philip Kennedy, editor of the Library of Arabic Literature (LAL) project. The interview still needs to be transcribed and sorted, but one thing he mentioned was that they were still looking for someone crazy enough to translate al-Mutanabbi.
Rachida Madani’s ‘Tales of a Severed Head’ Tour
If you’re in England, Moroccan poet Rachida Madani and translator-poet Marilyn Hacker will be at several events for the UK launch of Madani’s collection ‘Tales of a Severed Head.”
New Poems and More from Mohammed Bennis
In the latest issue of Asymptote are three newly translated poems by Moroccan poet Mohammed Bennis (b. Fez, 1948), trans. Nashwa Nasreldin. Here, why she chose these poems and more on Bennis’s relationship to poetry.
Banipal 46: How a Little Magazine Gets Big Poems
Banipal recently hit the e-waves, bookstores, and mailboxes with its issue 46: “80 New Poems.” With poems from Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Lorand Gaspar, Khaled Mattawa, Amjad Nasser, Dunya Mikhail, Fadhil al-Azzawi, and more, this one’s definitely worth having.
Ghassan Zaqtan’s ‘Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me’ on Prestigious Griffin Shortlist
Other books on the “international” shortlist are: Liquid Nitrogen by Jennifer Maiden, Night of the Republic by Alan Shapiro, and Our Andromeda by Copper Canyon Press. Books on the Canadian shortlist are David McFadden’s What’s the Score, James Pollock’s Sailing to Babylon, and Ian Williams’ Personals. The winner will be announced June 13.
April 2013: New Arabic Poetry and Prose (in Translation)
Some stunning work is newly available in translation, including several stories and poems from the April Words Without Borders issue, “Writing from Iraq,” new poetry in Jadaliyya, a novel excerpt from The National, and more.
An English-language Debut Collection from Abdulkareem Kasid: ‘Cafés’
Iraqi poet Abdulkareem Kasid’s debut English-language collection, titled Cafés, was reviewed as “unforgettable.” After a little sniffing around, we turned up some of the poems — and even how to order the collection.
Abdellatif Laâbi, Terra Incognita
Recently, Moroccan poet Abdellatif Laâbi was at London’s Mosaic Rooms and Free Word Centre, celebrating the release of his Bottom of the Jar and a new chapbook of his poems. Roland Glasser earlier reported on the launch; now Yasmine Seale reflects on Laâbi’s poetry and… Read More ›
If You’re in Vancouver: ‘Translating a Flawed Masterpiece’
Dr. Geert Jan van Gelder, who recently translated and edited the Library of Arabic Literature collection Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology, will be speaking in Surrey, B.C. on March 14 about his latest project, al-Ma’ari’s The Epistle of Forgiveness: From the… Read More ›
The Dream of a Dual-language Poem
This piece is from Egypt Source, as part of their “Faces of Egypt” series. Below is leftover material, some of which probably deserves follow-up and its own piece, but instead I just present the cuttings. But first, from the profile: “I dream… Read More ›
