Culture

Sudanese comedian Mustafa Jorry

"I used to be afraid of not being funny"

Sudanese comedian Mustafa Jorry has mastered the art of humour across languages and cultures. This month, he reaches a new milestone, joining Egyptian comedy giant Bassem Youssef on stage in Paris. How does he do it?
By Clara Taxis
Feminism & Pop in Tunisia

"The world doesn’t want loud women"

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi, an icon of resistance during the 2011 Arab Spring protests, recently released an album exclusively produced by women. A conversation on metal, feminism and the beauty of the Arabic language.
By Atifa Qazi
Claudia Mende's new book

A century of Arab feminism

For over a century, Arab women from Tunisia to Saudi Arabia have fought for their rights, against violence, and for autonomy over their lives and bodies. In her new book, Claudia Mende amplifies their voices.
By Ceyda Nurtsch
Fairuz

Songs for a Lebanon that never existed

Lebanese singer Fairuz, now a 90-year-old icon, began her career 70 years ago with mould-breaking musical theatre. Setting artistic milestones alongside the Rahbani brothers, she soundtracked the history of Lebanon through an era marked by suffering and war.
By Mahmoud Hassan
On fleeing to Germany

Poems that strike a blow for freedom

The new collection "Sei neben mir und sieh, was mir geschehen ist" (Be beside me and see what happened to me) features works by 29 poets who arrived in Germany as refugees. Their texts, written in German, Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, and Ukrainian, provide insights into their experiences.
By Gerrit Wustmann
Comic book author Joe Sacco

"Gaza was where the West went to die"

Trailblazing cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco reflects on Western coverage of the war on Gaza, oral histories, and comics as a medium for critical journalism.
By Elias Feroz
Tunisia's Carthage Film Festival

Decolonial cinema

The Carthage Film Festival in Tunis aims to counter the Global North's dominance in the world of film. Until Sunday, a diverse range of films from Africa and West Asia will be screened. But can the festival truly fulfil its own ambitions?
By Vanessa Barisch
Palestinian director Dima Hamdan

"There is no pride when gay men are blackmailed"

Winner of the prestigious Iris Film Prize, Dima Hamdan's short film "Blood like Water" addresses how Israel uses the social stigma of homosexuality in Palestinian society to blackmail gay men.
By Nazeeha Saeed
Mahmoud Muna, editor of "Daybreak in Gaza"

"A book about hope, anger and anguish"

Mahmoud Muna is the owner of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem and one of the editors of “Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Cultures”. The book collects testimonies and stories from over a hundred Gazans, documenting their lives before and during Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave.
By Anna-Theresa Bachmann
Bilingual children's books

Kurdish as a living language

"When I was a child, I felt ashamed of my identity," says linguist and translator Marwan Sheikho. Determined to create a different reality for his own children, he's made his publishing debut with three bilingual Kurdish children's books.
By Marcia Lynx Qualey
Science fiction from Turkey

A spark of reality in literary dystopia

Above the clouds lies not just boundless freedom, but also dystopian visions of the future. With his collection "Über den Wolken und andere Geschichten" (Above the Clouds and Other Stories), editor Ünver Alibey shows that science fiction is no longer a solely Western genre.
By Gerrit Wustmann
Çiğdem Akyols's novel on Germany’s guest workers

Clear-eyed and unsentimental

In her debut novel, Çiğdem Akyol tells the story of a family caught between Germany and Turkey. The journalist offers an unvarnished portrait of the guest-worker generation and their children and sheds light on their ruthless exploitation in Germany.
By Gerrit Wustmann