We recorded this interview with Deen in January 2022, just as her debut urban-fantasy trilogy Shubeik Lubeik (“Your Wish is My Command”) was coming out in English. This original and beautifully illustrated story imagines that wishes of varying quality can be bought and sold in contemporary Cairo, with unpredictable and poignant results. It has been widely celebrated and nominated for a Hugo Award.While the US edition from Pantheon keeps the title “Shubeik Lubeik,” the UK edition from Granta uses a literal translation: “Your Wish Is My Command.”Find more of Deena’s work at http://deenadraws.art and on Twitter and Instagram as @itsdeenasaur.The original Arabic three volumes were published by Dar Mahrousa and are available in the US through Maamoul Press. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Art critic and journalist Kaelen Wilson-Goldie joins us for a sweeping look at the life, writing, and art of singular Lebanese author-artist Etel Adnan (1925-2021).  Kaelin Wilson-Goldie’s Etel Adnan is available from Lund Humphries.Adnan’s Time, translated by Sarah Riggs, is available from Nightboat Books.The Beauty of Light, a collection of interviews with Laure Adler, is available from Nightboat Books in Ethan Mitchell’s translation. It was initially published in French, as "La beauté de la lumière, entretiens," by Éditions de seuil, in 2022.An excerpt from Adnan’s “Jebu” is available in the single issue of the magazine Tigris, hosted on ArabLit.Sitt Marie Rose is available in Georgina Kleege’s English translation from the Post-Apollo Press.Adnan’s essay “On Small Magazines,” where she writes of meeting Abdellatif Laâbi, is available on Bidoun.Adnan’s “To Write in a Foreign Language” describes her journey with and through languages.All the images used in promotion of this episode are courtesy of the Sfeir-Semler Gallery.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Majalla 28 is a literary magazine out of Gaza co-producing an issue with ArabLit. We talk about the work by co-editors Mahmoud al-Shaer and Mohamed al-Zaqzouq and read excerpts from that issue. After that, we talk about a particular kind of Palestinian literature – by writers serving life sentences. Find out more about the Gaza issue at arablit.orgMore writing by Heba Al-Agha, translated by Julia Choucair Vizoso, is also available at arablit.orgYou can read more about the late author Walid Daqqa, who died in an Israeli prison, at JadaliyyaPalestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Srour’s The Wall, translated by Luke Leafgren, is out now from Other PressA Mask, the Colour of the Sky, by Palestinian writer Basim Khandaqji, won this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Khandaqji is serving three consecutive life sentences; his novel is forthcoming in English translation from Europa Editions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ghassan Kanafani is best known for his famous novellas, but he was many things besides a talented writer: a prolific journalist, an insightful critic and editor, a heterodox Marxist, a spokesman for the militant Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He wrote and lived like he had no time to waste (which turned out to be true: he was assassinated in an Israeli car bombing at the age of 36). He remains one of the most respected and beloved of Arab icons, but his non-fiction work is less known than it should be. In 1970 he wrote a book of historical analysis: The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine. Its translator, historian Hazem Jumjam, joined us for a conversation about this book on a failed revolution and everything we can still learn from it today. Hazem Jamjoum’s translation of Kanafani’s The Revolution of 1936–1939 in Palestine is available from 1804 Books.Mahmoud Najib’s translation of Kanafani’s On Zionist Literature is available from Ebb Books.Kanafani’s complete works in Arabic are available from Rimal Books.Kanafani’s Men in the Sun was adapted to film as The Dupes (1972). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.