"I was the one who must go to Najaf for training as an imam, he told me, and not my brother, who loathed study of any kind. It looked to me like I was being offered up as a sacrifice."
Articles
Translating Dystopia: An Excerpt from Yasser Abdel Hafez’s ‘The Book of Safety’
"I’ve no experience with children, but generally speaking, shouldn’t they seem joyous and uninhibited?"
Be Part of International Reading Campaign: ‘One Book, Many Communities’ in April 2017
This year's book is Ghassan Kanafani's classic Returning to Haifa, originally published in Arabic in 1969 and translated into English by Barbara Harlow.
An Excerpt from Mohamed Rabie’s Prize-winning Dystopia ‘Otared’
“Price of entry is one unopened packet of cigarettes. No weapons here. If you’re carrying a weapon, chuck it down that hole, now. No talking to the pedestrians and no looking at their faces. If you’re carrying a mask, then put it on; otherwise cover your face with a scarf or a sheet of newspaper."
A Brief Tour Through Four Major Arabic Literature Prizes
Today, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction -- the most glittery and high-profile prize for Arabic literature -- put out its 2017 longlist. We take this opportunity to look at some of the major pan-Arab literary prizes, particularly those that promote translation into English.
New Egyptian Literary Voices: Dystopias, Thrillers, Graphic Novels, and Future Histories
Look for excerpts of two of these novels forthcoming next week on GLLI!
Translations for Teens: Young Adult Literature from the Arabic
Since the middle of the last decade, tens of innovative novels for tweens and teens have started appearing in Arabic each year.
17 Notable Arabic Books Coming to English in 2017
This month, GLLI will focus on Arabic literature in translation. To kick things off, ArabLit editor M. Lynx Qualey highlights 17 notable Arabic books forthcoming in English in 2017. January 2017 1) Ascension to Death, by Mamdouh Azzam, trans. Max Weiss (Haus Publishing) From the publisher: Ascension to Death, which launches Haus Publishing’s new Modern Arabic Classics series, … Continue reading 17 Notable Arabic Books Coming to English in 2017
The Bangkok Book Awards
Global literature for children exists—but how to find it and connect it with readers? A group of librarians at international schools in Bangkok have developed a new student-choice book award program that 1) helps librarians exchange info about books by authors from around the world, and 2) acquaints students with their finds. Here librarian Kim … Continue reading The Bangkok Book Awards
Excerpt: La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
Someone who looks like a banker walks into the BNL bank on Piazza Matteoti. Someone who looks like a crook—with a broken nose, low forehead, and big, protruding ears—comes out of the police station next door, while eight carabinieri stand smoking on the pavement and laughing and acting out on a friend how they’d arrest … Continue reading Excerpt: La Superba by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 