Arabic language
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Previously unpublished work
Naguib Mahfouz' "The Quarter"
Last year, Egyptian critic Mohammed Shoair made an unusual and thrilling announcement: the discovery of never-before-seen stories by Egyptʹs only Nobel laureate for literature, Naguib Mahfouz. Filed in a cardboard box in the possession of Mahfouzʹs daughter, this slender trove of texts has now yielded "The Quarter". By Marcia Lynx Qualey
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Interview with Syrian author Mustafa Khalifa
"The Syrian revolution is bigger than a thousand novels"
Mustafa Khalifaʹs "The Shell – Memoirs of a Hidden Observer", which has been translated into ten languages, is one of the most famous prison novels in Arabic literature. Khaled Salameh spoke to Khalifa about the world of the novel, his identity, his country and his exile
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Portrait of the Syrian writer Shahla Ujayli
Lessons in empathy
Born into a family of celebrated Syrian authors and academics, Shahla Ujayli is herself a successful writer. Winning the Jordan State Award for Literature in 2006 with her debut publication, "The Cat's Eye", Ujayli has now been shortlisted – for the second time – for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. By Marcia Lynx Qualey
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Man Booker International award
Johka Alharthi scoops a first for Arabic literature
Omani novelist Johka Alharthi confounded regional literary pundits earlier this month when she carried off the highly prestigious Man Booker International prize for "Celestial Bodies". Marcia Lynx Qualey caught up with her and the novelʹs translator, Marilyn Booth, the morning after the award was announced
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The demise of Modern Standard Arabic
Tongue-tied Arabs
It is one of the most important Semitic world languages. One of the six official languages of the UN. The language of Ibn Arabis – and of the Koran. And yet Modern Standard Arabic is not very popular with native speakers. Why? Mona Sarkis has some of the answers
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Kamel Daoud’s novel "Zabor"
Algeria and a patriarch's dying throes
"Zabor", the new novel by Algerian star author Kamel Daoud, tells the story of the outsider Ismael, who discovers poetry as a means of survival. Stefan Weidner sees parallels in the novel with the situation in Algeria following the ousting of Bouteflika
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Award for epistolary novel about the fate of refugees
IPAF: Hoda Barakat wins prestigious Arabic literature prize
The Lebanese writer Hoda Barakat was awarded the most important Arab literary prize on 23 April for her epistolary novel about the fate of refugees.
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Social media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb
Published by Facebook
Social media has democratised literary publishing, paving the way for young Moroccan writers to publish works which previously would not have enjoyed publication through traditional outlets. By Ismail Azzam
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The language of migrants
Being a stranger in a second language
Kurdish writer and translator Nabaz Samad Ahmed reports on his ambivalence towards second languages as a result of his socialisation in Iraq
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Moroccan school curricula
French, Arabic, Moroccan, Amazigh?
The debate about the status of Arabic in Moroccan schools continues unabated. With many of the existing colloquial dialects jockeying for recognition, Morocco faces a tough task when it comes to offering effective, balanced linguistic education for all. By Ali Anouzla
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Interview with graphic novel illustrator Reinhard Kleist
Arab comics – protest, love and the everyday
Reinhard Kleist is regarded as one of Germany’s finest graphic-novel illustrators and has travelled the Arab world extensively, discovering a fascinating local comics scene
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Lubna Isamʹs "Sudanese Tales”
Tradition in the present
The art of storytelling has a long tradition in the Arab world. Folk tales and historical events were passed down orally over many generations. Now the Sudanese author Lubna Isam has revived the tradition. Interview by Eslam Anwar