Over on Qantara, there’s a discussion with Syrian writer Nihad Sirees that took place at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in April. We talked about his current and future writing projects, the community of authors meeting in Syria, and his hopes for the future.
Syrian novelist Nihad Sirees has won the 2013 Coberg Rückert Prize, an award given by the German city of Coburg in memory of translator and linguist Friedrich Rückert, who lived and worked in Coburg from 1820 to 1866.
Khaled Khalifa’s In Praise of Hatred was named on this year’s exceptionally strong longlist for the International Foreign Fiction Prize. In my review the novel for the Egypt Independent (“The Great Hate Story“), I noted: “Love is a subject that has animated great poetry,… Read More ›
This year’s WTD message (from Dario Fo) is available in YouTube videos in many different languages. It was not so when Saadallah Wannous wrote his World Theater Day (WTD) message in 1996. Then, they were translated and read aloud in… Read More ›
Several contributors to the collection Doomed By Hope: Essays on Arab Theatre (as well as playwright Mohammad al-Attar) will be at Yale this week to lead workshops, presentations, and discussions: There will also be a screening of “There Are Still So Many… Read More ›
The collection Doomed by Hope: Essays on Arab Theatre, ed. Eyad Houssami, comes at a time of renewed interest in its guiding light, Saadallah Wannous (1941-1997): Ali Ali ‘Ajil Naji al-Anezi, in a 2006 dissertation on Wannous, lamented that “Wannous’s name is… Read More ›
Starting tomorrow at Brown University, there’s a two-day program of “Urgent Witness” that includes author talks, readings, and the staging of the play “House of Games” by Nihad Sirees. From the official announcements: TUESDAY 12 MARCH A reading by Adonis… Read More ›
It’s difficult to find a moment to celebrate or congratulate. Nonetheless: Mabrouk to Khaled Khalifa that his excellent novel, In Praise of Hatred, trans. beautifully Leri Price (mabrouk, Leri) made this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (IFFP) longlist, which apparently was released… Read More ›
Syrian author Nihad Sirees was recently on CNN and the BBC’s The Strand: The CNN piece interlaces the interview a bit…oddly…with somewhat random footage from Syria. In any case, CNN’s Becky Anderson first asks Sirees about his novel The Silence and the… Read More ›
Syrian Kurdish poet Hussein Habasch shares five of his poems, trans. from the Arabic by Mony Zinati: Habasch, born in 1970, writes in Kurdish and Arabic. He has published four collections of poetry and currently lives in Germany. More here…. Read More ›
There is a scene early in Samar Yazbek’s Cinnamon (2008) — ably and smoothly translated by Emily Danby (2012) — where Aliyah, on her flight from her employers’ home, draws out a copy of A Thousand and One Nights: “Aliyah… Read More ›
Nadia Ghanem recently attended a London showing of Sour Lips, a new play by Omar El-Khairy that explores the Tom MacMaster / Amina Arraf hoax. By Nadia Ghanem “How old are you? Are you religious? What sect? Have you ever had sexual… Read More ›
