Literature
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Kurdistan + 100Stories from a future republic
"Kurdistan + 100" is the third anthology in Comma Press's "future past" series, and a fourth – Egypt + 100 – is set to be published next year. Writers are asked to imagine a moment in the future connected to an event in their shared past
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LebanonKhalil Gibran's hometown celebrates 'The Prophet' centennial
Nestled in the mountains of northern Lebanon, a museum dedicated to Khalil Gibran in his hometown of Bsharre has been celebrating the centennial of "The Prophet", the renowned author's most famous work
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10/11, not 9/11New literary agency for a new approach
Specialising in bold, exciting, contemporary Arabic literature, 10/11 literary agents Sandra Hetzl and Katharine Halls talk to Marcia Lynx Qualey about their tastes and selection criteria, how they divide their work, and what they love (and don't) about literary agenting
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Adania Shibli, the Frankfurt Book Fair and the LiBeraturpreisLitprom under fire
Palestinian author Adania Shibli was to have received Litprom's LiBeraturpreis at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Writers from around the world have criticised the organisation in an open letter for postponing the award ceremony. By Nikolas Fischer
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PEN: No freedom for the word
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PEN: No freedom for the word
Germany's PEN centre has listed author Salman Rushdie as an honorary member after the writer was attacked at an event in the United States. PEN fights for the rights of persecuted authors and journalists. By Stefan Dege
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The deserted villages of the soulYavuz Ekinci's new novel
Armenian genocide denial is a great and enduring lie by the Turkish state, characterised by ongoing violence and racism. Yavuz Ekinci takes up the subject in an unsparing and powerful novel: "Das ferne Dorf meiner Kindheit" – 'the distant village of my childhood'. Gerrit Wustmann read the book
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'They Fell Like Stars from the Sky'Sheikha Helawy's joyous, rebellious passions
Their bodies might be displaced, torn away from homes and villages. Yet the memories of women and girls in Sheikha Helawy's short-story collection "They Fell Like Stars from the Sky" remain, haunting the spaces where they once lived. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
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Syrian literatureAcclaimed writer Khaled Khalifa dies aged 59
Award-winning author, poet and screenwriter Khaled Khalifa has died at his home in Damascus. Although one of his country's most celebrated writers, his novels were banned in Syria
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Algeria – wasteland for Arabic literatureBig Brother is watching you
In May 2023, Algerian author Said Khatibi won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Award in the young author category for his historical crime novel "Nihayat al-Sahra'" – in English, 'the End of the Sahara'. Claudia Mende caught up with Khatibi in Abu Dhabi for Qantara.de
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Migration in the 1960sAdapting to Germany's fast-changing society
Nassir Djafari's second novel "Mahtab" tells the story of a migrant mother from Iran in 1960s Frankfurt. Not only does it describe how the protagonist adapts to an unfamiliar culture, but also reveals just how much Frankfurt itself was transformed during this period. By Hans Dembowski
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The refugee's struggle for identityHomeless with three homes
In "Heimatlos mit drei Heimaten" – literally, 'homeless with three homes' – the historian and political scientist Aref Hajjaj illustrates his personal experiences from a life led between Palestine, Switzerland and Germany. Volker Kaminski read the book