Ready for some adventure tales? Join us in reading “101 Nights” (Miit layla wa-layla). Like its most famous cousin, “1001 Nights” (also called Arabian Nights), this medieval story collection also includes the frame tale of Shahrazad saving her life with her storytelling. However, our text is shorter, older, and likely has North African or Andalusian…
Image of Bayad playing his oud Music Some of my favorite contemporary Moroccan artists: Nass El Ghiwane – see Brownbook post Oum – see Brownbook post Nabyla Maan See here for a concert of psalms sung in Arabic, performed by Lebanese Catholic nun Sister Marie Keyrouz. Poetry and Oral Compositions…
Paintings by English book illustrator Arthur Rackham Films by Japanese artist Hayao Miyazaki Fantasy novels and short stories around the world Illustrations by American book designer Thomas Canty Arabic folk hero Antar. Film on YouTube here (in Arabic). Margari Aziza wrote about her discovery of Antar. Egyptian feminist working group, Women & Memory Forum, published…
I like to blend my own teas during the cold weather months. This year I’ve made the following three caffeine-free blends. I’d love to hear of other favorites to try next year! Chamomile Ingredients: Chamomile Flowers Fennel Seeds Lemon Peel Hint of Basil Leaf Dash of Licorice Root Chai Ingredients: Red Rooibos Ginger Root Cardamom…
Bonjour! As you may know, I’m helping lead a discussion on GoodReads about The Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah. Then my husband recently introduced me to the music of Nolwenn Leroy, a French singer inspired by Breton and Celtic culture. I enjoyed this song so much, that I ended up translating it (video…
Using gender to define the core of what makes us human creates huge contradictions: it requires us to define men and women as fundamentally different from each other and yet also as full human beings. – Johnson, The Gender Knot, 58 Just as women appear in limited and occasional historical events universally, so the popular…
