Remembering Mourid: 10 in Translation, Online

With thanks to the ever excellent & useful ArabLit for this compilation: On February 14, poet and memoirist Mourid Barghouti died in Amman, Jordan, having spent most of his life in various exiles: Below, a selection from his work available in translation, online. PROSE Excerpt from I Saw Ramallah, with an introduction by Edward W. Said, translated by Ahdaf Soueif It is very hot on the bridge. A drop … Read more Remembering Mourid: 10 in Translation, Online

Thinking of Abdelwahab Meddeb…

… the great Tunisian poet, writer, essayist & translator who would have turned 75 today. A good friend for several decades, I learned much from him about the literature & culture of the Maghreb and the wider Arab world. (See my essay on Abdelwahab & his work in my Arabia (Not So) Deserta. And wondering why his book The Malady of Islam, which I co-translated & published back in … Read more Thinking of Abdelwahab Meddeb…

Abdellatif Laâbi’s ” Perishable Poems”

A pleasure right now here in the turmoil of virus to sit down & read through the latest Abdellatif Laâbi collection of poems, excellently translated by Peter Thompson, & published by Dialogos in Nola. As the publisher’s website states, “English speakers can now join Africans and Africa scholars in recognizing Abdellatif Laâbi as Morocco’s preeminent living poet.” I would qualify this by saying “preeminent francophone poet” given the great … Read more Abdellatif Laâbi’s ” Perishable Poems”

In Celebration of Amjad Nasser, a Poet Who ‘Mourns Himself While Still Alive’

Via the always excellent ArabLit came the news this morning of Amjad Nasser’s illness. I met him many years ago, in Paris, & he & his writing were immediately very close to me. It was he who sent me a xerox of the out-of-print English translation of Niffari’s Book of Stations, a sufi concept — the station, the maw’qif — that would become essential to a core aspect of my … Read more In Celebration of Amjad Nasser, a Poet Who ‘Mourns Himself While Still Alive’

Just Out: “Arabia (not so) Deserta”

Just out from spuytenduyvil! Arabia (not so) Deserta Essays on Maghrebi & Mashreqi Writing & Culture Pierre Joris ISBN 978-1-949966-05-3 200 pages $18.00 Anne Waldman: This is a treasure, a caravanserai of a book, erudite, personal, enlightening. Pierre Joris poet, translator, editor, anthologist scholar, flâneur par excellence—is an incomparable and friendly guide to these realms, his lifelong passion and esprit manifest and up for the rigor of this … Read more Just Out: “Arabia (not so) Deserta”

Attack on Beloved Gazan Novelist Atef Abu Saif

via ArabLit — Arabic Literature and Translation: On the evening of Monday, March 18, just after 5 p.m., some ten masked, armed men attacked Gazan novelist Atef Abu Saif and his neighbor Abdul Meni’m Jadallah while they were in the garden of Jadallah’s house. According to Haaretz, Abu Saif is in critical condition: It was last night when news of the attack on Atef Abu Saif began circulating among other Palestinian … Read more Attack on Beloved Gazan Novelist Atef Abu Saif

On Mahmoud Darwish Day, 13 Poems

via the always excellent ArabLit (Arabic Literature and Translation): The towering, generation-defining Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) was born on this day in al-Birwa. To commemorate his entrance into our world on a March 13, we have excerpts from 13 poems and poemtexts. Follow the links for the more complete works: 1) “The Moon Did Not Fall Into the Well,” from Journal of an Ordinary Grief, tr. Ibrahim Muhawi Muhawi’s translations … Read more On Mahmoud Darwish Day, 13 Poems

A Look at 99 Books: Algerian Literature in English Translation

via ArabLit /Arabic Literature and Translation: Which Algerian books have been translated to English, which haven’t, and which should be? By Nadia Ghanem As Algeria approaches another momentous step in its political history with a presidential election that, like Brexit, could happen or not but probably yes rather than not, what better time than to plunge into the fiction of Algerian novelists who have played, like their counterparts everywhere, … Read more A Look at 99 Books: Algerian Literature in English Translation

Ruba Abughaida on Self-translating:

‘I Become Another Version of Myself’ via M Lynx Qualey & her superb Arab Literature and translation site: Last month, Albion Beatnik Press published two poetry collections by Ruba Abughaida — the Arabic edition of her Paths and Passageways, and also Abughaida’s own English translation: Abughaida, who was born in London, has collaborated on translation projects in English and Arabic with London-based Iraqi poet Adnan Al Sayegh and Oxford-based poet Jenny Lewis. … Read more Ruba Abughaida on Self-translating:

Arabian Romantic: A ‘Linear Descendent’ of Early Arabic Classics

via ArabLit: Marcel Kurpershoek, editor-translator of ‘Abdallah ibn Sbayyil’s Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love, first became acquainted with Nabati poetry in the 1980s, while working as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia. He has also translated Hmedan al-Shweʿir’s Arabian Satire: Poetry from 18th Century Najdand is currently a senior research fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi, where he specializes in the oral traditions and poetry of Arabia. He … Read more Arabian Romantic: A ‘Linear Descendent’ of Early Arabic Classics

Nomadics

Category: Arab Culture