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I committed no sin
and yet they carved out of my flesh,
out of my life:
a loaf of bread,
a spoonful of sugar,
a homeland that once knew how to sing.
Nima Hasan, tr. Huda Fakhreddine
arablit.org/2026/02/05/t...
I committed no sin
and yet they carved out of my flesh,
out of my life:
a loaf of bread,
a spoonful of sugar,
a homeland that once knew how to sing.
Nima Hasan, tr. Huda Fakhreddine
arablit.org/2026/02/05/t...
arablit.org/2026/01/26/s...
arablit.org/2026/01/26/s...
#xl8
In this “BETWEEN TWO ARABIC TRANSLATORS” conversation, Yasmeen Hanoosh and Zia Ahmed discuss approaching Arabic translation via English and Urdu, the layers of "outsider-ness" in translation, and the boom of narrative fiction in Oman.
#xl8
Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. The next installment is set to appear February 9, 2026.
"Hold me before the game ends. / Like everything else, / grief needs time / to become a language."
"Hold me before the game ends. / Like everything else, / grief needs time / to become a language."
The chair of the judges for the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Mohamed Elkadhi, today announced the prize's 2026 vibrant six-book shortlist in Manama, Bahrain.
The chair of the judges for the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Mohamed Elkadhi, today announced the prize's 2026 vibrant six-book shortlist in Manama, Bahrain.
Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. The next installment is set to appear February 9, 2026.
Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. The next installment is set to appear February 9, 2026.
"The temperature dipped a little / but the country’s still burning—"
"The temperature dipped a little / but the country’s still burning—"
Forthcoming this month: Two criminal investigations from Algeria, an anthology of raw portraits of Gaza from emerging writers, and a new collection of poems by Ghassan Zaqtan.
Forthcoming this month: Two criminal investigations from Algeria, an anthology of raw portraits of Gaza from emerging writers, and a new collection of poems by Ghassan Zaqtan.
In this “BETWEEN TWO ARABIC TRANSLATORS” conversation, Yasmeen Hanoosh and Zia Ahmed discuss approaching Arabic translation via English and Urdu, the layers of "outsider-ness" in translation, and the boom of narrative fiction in Oman.
In this “BETWEEN TWO ARABIC TRANSLATORS” conversation, Yasmeen Hanoosh and Zia Ahmed discuss approaching Arabic translation via English and Urdu, the layers of "outsider-ness" in translation, and the boom of narrative fiction in Oman.
The International Board on Books for Young People today announced the shortlist for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
The International Board on Books for Young People today announced the shortlist for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
In this short fiction from Kuwait, the central character and his author are in a standoff over a telephone call.
In this short fiction from Kuwait, the central character and his author are in a standoff over a telephone call.
"I survived—came out of yesterday / alive, carried out on the shoulders / of the wind."
"I survived—came out of yesterday / alive, carried out on the shoulders / of the wind."
Short fiction by Mohammed Hussein Heikal (1888 - 1956) about marriage and money in early twentieth century Egypt.
Short fiction by Mohammed Hussein Heikal (1888 - 1956) about marriage and money in early twentieth century Egypt.
In this conversation over e-mail, Sinan Antoon talks about the novel, the fraught nature of collective memory, the process of self-translation, and the sort of “security checkpoints” a book must pass through in the process of translation.
In this conversation over e-mail, Sinan Antoon talks about the novel, the fraught nature of collective memory, the process of self-translation, and the sort of “security checkpoints” a book must pass through in the process of translation.
In his 2015 autobiography, A Time of Wind, Anxiety, and Freedom (أزمنة الريح والقلق والحرية ), Sudanese scholar Dr. Hayder Ibrahim Ali offers a rare and insightful account of Sudan’s intellectual and political life.
In his 2015 autobiography, A Time of Wind, Anxiety, and Freedom (أزمنة الريح والقلق والحرية ), Sudanese scholar Dr. Hayder Ibrahim Ali offers a rare and insightful account of Sudan’s intellectual and political life.
Lebanese artist and writer Lamia Ziadé’s fifth illustrated book for adults, Rue de Phénicie, (Phoenicia Street), is a work of intellectual rigor and personal honesty. It’s a story that begins with finding hedonistic joy in Paris grows progressively more complicated…
Lebanese artist and writer Lamia Ziadé’s fifth illustrated book for adults, Rue de Phénicie, (Phoenicia Street), is a work of intellectual rigor and personal honesty. It’s a story that begins with finding hedonistic joy in Paris grows progressively more complicated…
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A story to turn your heart inside out.
arablit.org/2026/01/15/t...
A story to turn your heart inside out.
arablit.org/2026/01/15/t...
lithub.com/how-the-new-...
lithub.com/how-the-new-...
This excerpt comes from the first chapter of the extraordinary literary memoir The Fire: The Tale of a Child Who Has Not Yet Burned, by Mohammad Abdo Najari, published in Damascus by Dar al-Hassad in 1996.
This excerpt comes from the first chapter of the extraordinary literary memoir The Fire: The Tale of a Child Who Has Not Yet Burned, by Mohammad Abdo Najari, published in Damascus by Dar al-Hassad in 1996.
Our Jan 2026 newsletter ("Writing in Arabic, Living in Canada") is coming tomorrow. If you're not yet a subscriber, it'll be at: arablit.substack.com.
Special thanks this month to Badar Salem, Chloe Bordewich, & Mennan Salih.
Our Jan 2026 newsletter ("Writing in Arabic, Living in Canada") is coming tomorrow. If you're not yet a subscriber, it'll be at: arablit.substack.com.
Special thanks this month to Badar Salem, Chloe Bordewich, & Mennan Salih.
Gaza-based Palestinian writer Husam Maarouf responds to Batool Abu Akleen's '48 kg.'
Gaza-based Palestinian writer Husam Maarouf responds to Batool Abu Akleen's '48 kg.'
"I’ve said it before, and I say it now on this London evening / before it’s too late: / I am the last communist!"
"I’ve said it before, and I say it now on this London evening / before it’s too late: / I am the last communist!"