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. Also available in Arabic wherever you get your books (including ebook at Kotobi, paperback at Neelwafurat, and Audiobook at Storytel).
Some Favorite Quotations in Arabic Literature On art, literature, and writing Horses, night, and the desert know me And the sword, the spear, paper, and the pen
– a famous line of poetry by the poet Al-Mutanabbi (known for his bragging!) from 10th century Baghdad
On education What I want is knowledge of how things really are,
so must I not [first] try to find out what knowledge really is?
YA Arabic Fantasy Fiction I recommend anything by Ahmed Salah Al Mahdi, a bright new talent in the Arab World. I’ve dedicated another post to his work here.
Sonia Nimr’s middle-grade novel طائر الرعد / Thunderbird – See here for Marcia Lynx Qualey’s interview with the author. Qualey’s recommendation of طائر الرعد / Thunderbird in the third Bulaq podcast won me over! Arabic review by Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi here. Available in 2022 in English (from Amazon and other booksellers).
YA Arabic Fantasy Fiction I recommend anything by Ahmed Salah Al Mahdi, a bright new talent in the Arab World. I’ve dedicated another post to his work here.
Sonia Nimr’s middle-grade novel طائر الرعد / Thunderbird – See here for Marcia Lynx Qualey’s interview with the author. Qualey’s recommendation of طائر الرعد / Thunderbird in the third Bulaq podcast won me over! Arabic review by Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi here. Available in 2022 in English (from Amazon and other booksellers).
