So Then, Farewell Cairo: Let My Exile Begin

M. LYNX-QUALEY: It’s time to bid a sad adieu to my adopted home town. I hope to be back, though, soon.
Syrian Revolution Diairies: My Most Difficult Read

M. LYNX-QUALEY: It’s a harrowing experience that feels immediate and real because the events are still ongoing.
Tunisian Writers Launch Campaign Against Censors

M. LYNX-QUALEY: Censorship is developing many tentacles in Tunisia today but writers are refusing to take attacks lying down
Banned: A Day In The Life of a Kuwaiti Censor

M. LYNX-QUALEY: Kuwait always features highly in lists of press freedom in the Arab world but it keeps a tight rein on literature
‘Poetry of the Taliban’: Worth All The Fuss?

M. LYNX-QUALEY: The editors surely anticipated – and welcomed – the storm that has erupted around publication of their collection
Do Books Matter in Contemporary Cairo?

M. LYNX-QUALEY: It may be Cairo’s oldest book market but heritage is no protector from increasing development
Online or Behind Closed Doors: The Big Saudi Discussion

M. LYNX-QUALEY: There’s liberation in discussing ideas online but also dangers. Where do young Saudis discuss the big issues?
Hamlet: Is He The Arab World’s True Hero?

HUSSEIN OMAR, ARABLIT: Nasser had a ‘Caesar Complex’ but for Egyptians and many other Arabs there’s only one Shakespearean hero.
Vending Machines for Books: A Good Idea?

M. LYNX-QUALEY: Drinks, gold, now it’s books – Abu Dhabi seems to find endless uses for the vending machine
‘There’s No Room For Poets, Unless They’re Dead’

FARIS ADNON, ARABLIT: The narrative form has overwhelmed poetry in the Arab world, so I’ve given up on poetry.
Pure Theatre: The Drama Of The Press Conference

MAURICE CHAMMAH, ARABLIT: It’s a performance which has protagonists and an audience. Too often though the drama is not reflected in the finished article
‘Cairo, My City, Our Revolution’: Leader in ’18 Day’ Genre

M. LYNX-QUALEY: There’s a new genre in Arabic literature and not surprisingly Ahdaf Soueif is showing the way.
“Your Guns,Tanks and Missiles Are Killing My People”

M. LYNX-QUALEY: An impassioned open letter from one of Syria’s leading authors calls on Russia, China and Iran to stop supporting ‘genocide’.
Goodbye Ibrahim Aslan: Daily Debris Was His Inspiration

M. LYNX-QUALEY: He wrote about everyday lives filled with frustration and dead-ends but leavened by laughter. Farewell, Ibrahim, we’ll miss you
Best Arabic Books of 2011: A Personal Choice

M. LYNX-QUALEY: It’s been a momentous year in politics in the Arab World but how has literature measured up? Herewith 2011 ‘s highlights.
A Force for Freedom, Mohamed Hashem

M.LYNX-QUALEY: At a press conference today, award-winning author Mohamed Hashem was the target of accusations by the SCAF’s General Adel Emara.
Bahrain: 3 Cartoonists, Sum Bigger than Parts?

M.LYNX-QUALEY: Neufeld wasn’t in Bahrain during the protests, but he cartoons about it nevertheless through the lens of two cartoonists who were.