Art’s Struggle to Define Who & What is ‘Tahrir’
M.LYNX-QUALEY: Dina Adel asserts that all this means art in Egypt (and perhaps beyond) is undergoing a renaissance, another Nahda…
Libya Hosts Book ‘Un-Banning Ceremony’
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Who knows – it could set the template for a wave of such events. Libya’s ‘Book Un-Banning Ceremony’ is worth celebrating.
Emirati Female Writers Finding Their Feet
M. LYNX-QUALEY: A collection of writing from Emirati authors, showcased in the journal ‘Banipal’, demonstrates the wide variety of female voices in the UAE…
Nawal al-Saadawi: Writer or Politician First?
M. LYNX QUALEY: She’s just approaching her 80th birthday and has begun work on a new novel set in Tahrir Square. A divisive character is she first and foremost a political activist or writer?
‘No Government Support’ for Arabic Literature
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Unlike most Western governments there is little appetite among any Arab government for the translation and promotion of literature. It’s a great shame.
‘Writing the Revolution’: Two Authors Reflect
JENNIFER SEARS, ARABLIT: Two leading novelists attending an event in New York reflect on the role of intellectuals on this year’s events.
When Will We See the Arabic ‘Harry Potter’?
NOURA AL NOMAN, ARABLIT.COM: There is a serious lack of Arabic literature for young adults. What we need is an Arabic ‘Harry Potter’. Easier said than done.
Leading Syrian Writers and Artists Under Attack
M. LYNX QUALEY: Whether it’s novelists, songwriters or cartoonists artists of all shades and description are subject to vicious and sustained attack
Ramadan Reading: As Recommended by Mahfouz
M. LYNX-QUALEY: So what was on the Ramadan reading list of the great Naguib Mahfouz? A little of what you would expect and a few surprises.
A Summer Tonic: Mahfouz’s Belief in ‘the Power of Good’
M. LYNX-QUALEY: While conducting some ‘centenary research’ I came across the lecture Mahfouz delivered when accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Let’s Hear It for the Poet with the Weird Accent
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Son of an acclaimed literary family, Tamim al-Barghouti’s ‘weird accent and non-Egyptian features’ seem to be a problem for some in Egypt…
Aswany, IPAF, Translators: Daoud Takes Aim
M. LYNX-QUALEY: In a wide-ranging discussion at the Shubbak festival Hassan Daoud, the Lebanese novelist and journalist, had much to say…
Egypt’s Artists: ‘Bunch of Headless Chickens’?
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Egypt’s intellectuals are coming under increasing fire from their own …
Three Books That WON’T Help You Understand Iraq
M. LYNX-QUALEY: It’s one of those lists again. You know it’s designed to gain a reaction and you can’t help yourself so here I go with my reaction to books on Iraq.
Arts to ‘Flourish’ in a Ghaddafi-Free Libya
M. LYNX-QUALEY: ‘Censorship is good for literature’? This was a curious refrain from some East European writers. No way, look at Libya today.
The Silence of the Poets – And That Includes You, Adonis
M.LYNX-QUALEY: Poets have traditionally held a central role in reflecting the life of Arabs. Is that role, however, being usurped by other, more modern means of communication?
Censors ‘Making a Comeback’ in Tunisia and Egypt
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Following a relatively brief lull in censorship activity in Tunisia and Egypt it appears they’re back in business again.
Muslim-Coptic Relations: Five Books that Spell it Out
M. LYNX-QUALEY: The pendulum between hope, denial and despair seems to be swinging ever quicker in Egypt. Literature however offers a longer view.
The Arabic Novel: A New Form of Criticism Required?
M. LYNX-QUALEY: Is Naguib Mahfouz the ‘Arabic Balzac’, the ‘Arabic Zola’ or the ‘Arabic Thomas Mann’? Who cares? He wrote novels in a tradition that grew separately from European and American authors.
The Top 100 – and Five – Arabic Novels
M. LYNX-QUALEY: The Arab Writers Union has listed the Top 100 Arabic novels. Puzzling, annoying, lists such as this are nevertheless fun.
