{"id":15906,"date":"2018-03-08T07:58:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T11:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/?p=15906"},"modified":"2018-03-08T07:58:10","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T11:58:10","slug":"8-short-stories-by-arab-women-for-international-womens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/8-short-stories-by-arab-women-for-international-womens-day\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Short Stories by Arab Women for International Women\u2019s\u00a0Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Via Arab Literature (in English) & BY MLYNXQUALEY<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0:<\/i><\/p>\n

Your gift for International Women\u2019s Day is eight great short stories by Arab women, in translation, available free online:<\/em><\/section>\n
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By artist Helen Zughaib, in an exhibition \u201cArab Spring\/Unfinished Journeys: Humanizing Politics Through Art.\u201d A detail image of her piece Generations Lost, 2014. Photographer: Stephanie Mitchell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Many short stories I\u2019ve recently enjoyed \u2014 Hanan al-Shaykh\u2019s \u201cThe Angel\u201d in Arab Women Voice New Realities<\/em>; Najwa Binshatwan\u2019s \u201cReturn Ticket,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>tr. Sawad Hussain, in\u00a0Banthology \u2014\u00a0<\/em>have been written by women. Yet relatively few are available online. A translation of Samira Azzam\u2019s \u201cMan and His Alarm Clock\u201d has been paywalled for $42.50.<\/p>\n

Here is a handful of pearls, stitched to a branch:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cPearls on a Branch<\/a>,\u201d from the collection of folktales\u00a0Pearls on a Branch,\u00a0<\/em>ed. Najlaa Khoury, tr. Inea Bushnaq.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This gorgeous, subversive, beautifully translated collection \u2014 subtitled \u201cTales from the Arab World Told by Women\u201d \u2014 is a must-have for all ages. This story, published on\u00a0Tin House<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>opens:<\/p>\n

There was or there was not <\/em>
\nIn olden days that time has lost\u2026 <\/em>
\nO you who like stories and talk <\/em>
\nNo story can be pleasing and beautiful,<\/em>
\nWithout invoking the Almighty, the Merciful.<\/em><\/p>\n

THERE WAS A KING \u2013 there is no sovereign but God \u2013 and this king had a daughter. She was his only child and he liked to please her. So when the month for the pilgrimage to Mecca drew near, the king asked his daughter:<\/p>\n

Tell me what do you want me to bring you from the Hajj?<\/p>\n

2. Rachida el-Charni, \u201cThe Way to Poppy Street<\/a>,\u201d tr Piers Amodia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story \u2014 by Tunisian writer Rachida el-Charni \u2014 was also selected for the\u00a0Granta Book of the African Short Story<\/em>, ed. Helon Habila.<\/p>\n

She saw him coming towards her, whistling and humming. He stopped in front of her to ask politely if she knew the way to Poppy Street. Not for a moment did she imagine that he would use the second she took to think to snatch her gold necklace and take to his heels.<\/p>\n

3. Lena Merhej, \u201cI Think We Will Be Calmer in the Next War,<\/a>\u201d tr. Merhej.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story, by talented Lebanese artist, cartoonist, and graphic novelist Lena Merhej, opens:<\/p>\n

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You can read both the Arabic and the English<\/a> of these graphic short stories \u2014 or comix \u2014 at\u00a0grandpapier.org<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Malika Moustadraf\u2019s \u201cJust Different<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0tr. Alice Guthrie.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story, by the maverick Moroccan short-story writer Malika Moustadraf (1962-2006), opens:<\/p>\n

Avenue Mohammed V is silent and desolate this late at night, empty apart from a few stray cats meowing like newborn babies; it\u2019s a creepy sound.<\/p>\n

5. Basma al-Nsour\u2019s \u201cDisappointments (and a Few Clarifications),\u201d<\/a>tr. Andrew Leber<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story, by acclaimed Jordanian short-story writer and attorney Basma al-Nsour, opens:<\/p>\n

My life would have been a lot easier if only my grandmother had not been a liar. Or, to put it more nicely, if she hadn\u2019t been so imaginative\u00a0<\/em>on that winter night when she convinced me that she would never leave me.<\/p>\n

You can also read al-Nsour\u2019s \u201cThat Pathetic Woman<\/a>,\u201d tr. Thoraya El-Rayyes, on ArabLit.<\/p>\n

6. Adania Shibli\u2019s \u201cOut of Time<\/a>,\u201d translator not named.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This story, by Palestinian writer Adania Shibli, is built on the work of\u00a0classic Palestinian short-story writer Samira Azzam, best-known for her collection,\u00a0The Clock and the Man<\/em>.\u00a0Unfortunately a translation of Azzam\u2019s \u201cMan and His Alarm Clock<\/a>\u201d is no longer online.<\/p>\n

My little watch is the first to sense the change going in to and out of Palestine.<\/p>\n

7. Rasha Abbas, \u201cThe Gist of It<\/a>,\u201d tr. Alice Guthrie<\/strong><\/p>\n