Dear Barbara Dick and other sci-fi fans:
Check out this page for the sci fi salon that will be kicking off the annual Nour Festival of Arts.
Their announcement features a great piece of art by Murat Palta depicting Star Wars as a traditional miniature painting. The artist also has miniatures of movies such as Kill Bill, The Godfather, and other classics.
I recommend anything by Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi, a bright new talent in the Arab World. His books provide great suspense, enchanting world building, satisfying storylines, and compelling characters.See here for his website, and here and here for two interviews with him. His first book available in English is Reem: Into the Unknown. Review available here….
I’ve been pondering what my “10 for Libraries” list would look like ever since M. Lynx Qualey and Ursula discussed “Where to Start” (reading Arabic literature) on the Bulaq podcast, and as I’ve been seeing the various “10 for Libraries” lists posted on Arablit.org (first in the series here). 1. Novel: The Open Door by…
Relating to the MENA/SWANA region Discretion by Faïza Guène | The best Algerian novel to my knowledge, it recounts the experience of an Algerian family fitting into life in Paris. Likeable characters, provides a view of Algerian colonial and postcolonial experience. Available in French and English. I picked this up after reading an interview with…
Melanie A. Magidow Receives NEA Literature Translation Fellowship Fellowship will support the translation into English of The Adventures of Dhat al-Himma (the Arabic epic Sirat al-amira Dhat al-Himma) Washington, DC — Today, the National Endowment for the Arts announced that Melanie Magidow has been recommended for an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship of $12,500. Magidow…
With this bright new year of 2020, I’m sharing a few literary/artistic picks (two books and one music album) that were recently inspired by Conference of the Birds (منطق الطير), the allegorical poem by Farid al-Din Attar (lived in Nishapur c. 1145-c. 1221, in northeastern Iran). “Considered by Rumi to be ‘the master’ of Sufi…
I’m delighted to announce the publication of my new book, The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman: The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma. This handy book contains carefully selected episodes from the longest extant Arabic epic, and the only one named for a woman. Below is a photo of the seven volumes that comprise the…
