This audacious novel opens with Ayn as she reflects on the act of writing and wonders if love alone is sufficient subject for a narrative. Haltingly at first, she weaves the tale of her love affair with Ali with witty asides about her own writing, and the limits and self-deceptions that are at the heart […]
Burning in the Past Tense is a reading and discussion (in Arabic & English) by Suhail Shadoud with Brent Edwards & Lynn Love. About the author and panelists: Suhail Shadoud was born in Syria. He attended medical school at the University of Damascus and New York University. He has worked as a translator, editor and […]
“Return to Dar al-Basha” by the contemporary Tunisian author Hassan Nasr depicts the childhood of Murtada al-Shamikh and his return forty years later to his home in the medina or old city of Tunis. After being taken from his mother and raised in his father’s home where he was physically abused and emotionally marginalized, Murtada […]
Ahmed, a society photographer in a celebrated Cairo nightclub, witnesses a friend horrifically killed in a fight between young business rivals. Forced to escape the scene of the crime and go into hiding, Ahmed is ensnared in a web of cover-ups and crimes whose perpetrators stop at nothing to hide. In this sprawling political thriller, […]
At the beginning of America’s occupation of Iraq, 15 years after leaving Baghdad, Zeina returns to her war-torn homeland as an interpreter for the US Army where she finds herself torn by conflicting allegiances. Her traditional grandmother, the only family member that Zeina believes she has in Iraq, disapproves of her granddaughter’s involvement with the […]
Set on the eve of the January 1977 “bread riots” against IMF austerity programs and privatization that nearly brought down President Anwar Sadat, The Heron catches Egypt in the mid-stream of its modern history, as seen through the prism of a long winter night in the Cairo neighborhood of Kit Kat. Since it first appeared […]
Ten of Ahmed Fagih’s best short stories are included in this memorable collection, providing a reading experience that is both entertaining and socially relevant. Although focusing on contemporary themes such as the conflict between self and society, and the tension between conservative concepts and modern values, Fagih retains his signature style of writing. Always poetic, […]
A mesmerising and haunting tale of a young dying Lebanese man. In his mind he writes to Japanese writer, Mr Kawabata, arguing with his ideas of free will, living and dying. A bitter-sweet account of life in Beirut and how life could have been.
This novel exposes with honesty and lyricism the various issues that affect a young woman living in a city which is both sophisticated and provincial, liberal and conservative, tolerant and prejudiced’
Though several decades have passed since the savage climax of Algeria’s long and bloody war of independence, it still casts a long and haunting shadow over everyday life. Drawn together by the tortured memory of a massacre years ago, a shared experience binds Mathieu, Tahar and Aziz, and has disastrous repercussions for Meriem and Chehra, […]