ArabLit

News Bulaq ArabLit Books is publishing the first English translation of early 20th century woman of letters and feminist icon May Ziadeh; Ursula Lindsey has been working on a review of the award-winning Lebanese novelist Rabih Alameddine. Marcia and Ursula also talk about a devastating book based on interviews with Gazan evacuees by the Syrian writer/activist/journalist Samar Yazbek; and a memoir of art and politics, set in Lebanon and France, by Lamia Ziadé. Listen to the episode here.

Egypt, Poetry football For our Fall 2021 issue of ArabLit Quarterly, we ran several different football chants from countries across the region. As editors Nashwa Nasreldin and Leonie Böttiger wrote: “The old adage that football is ‘just a game’ has never been true for its fans, and the saying falls particularly flat in recent years, when football fans have taken an enormous role in political, societal, and humanitarian causes.

News The Azhar Writing Prize JULY 6, 2026 — The Azhar Writing Prize — a prize for new, unpublished work in English by Arab writers — today announced its first-, second- and third-place winners, as well as one honorable mention. The three winners will share a total prize pool of £3850. This year’s prize was judged by Rana Asfour and Malu Halasa.

Fiction, Palestine Adania Shibli This story appeared in the FOOTBALL issue of ArabLit Quarterly, which you can still get in print and digital. By Adania Shibli Translator anonymous The war, it seemed, was over, after it had reached the far extremes of violence. In short, it had reached a peak, and here were the soldiers packing away their possessions and collecting their equipment, tired, exhausted, and spent, having given all their energy to battle.

Lit Lists Alexandra Shraytekh, Rima Bali, Suleima's Ring, The Book of Damascus, The Modern Arabic Fantastic, Timothy Gregory If you know about other Arab or Arabic literature forthcoming in English translation in July 2026, let us know. Hush Now, Canary, by Mustafa Khalid, translated by William Hutchins (Dar Arab, July 6 2026) From the publisher: In a city strained by fear and uncertainty, lives intersect in fleeting moments of intimacy, loss, and endurance.

Interviews Gaza, Leri Price, Samar Yazbek, Tugrul Mende, Your Presence is a Danger to Your Life Leri Price on Translating Samar Yazbek’s Your Presence is a Danger to Your Life: Voices from Gaza In Conversation with Tugrul Mende In Your Presence is a Danger to Your Life: Voices from Gaza, Samar Yazbek made it her task to meet with the survivors of an ongoing genocide. While news headlines inform, this book tries to bring forward the human element to the forefront of the genocide.

Palestine, Reviews Asad’s Secret, Najlaa Attallah, Sawad Hussain On the English Translation of Najlaa Attallah’s Asad’s Secret By Nada Hodali Asad’s Secret is a YA novel by the Palestinian author Najlaa Attallah. Originally published in Arabic as Sirr As’ad (سر أسعد) by Tamer Institute for Community Education, the English translation, Asad’s Secret, was translated by Sawad Hussain and published by Levine Querido.

Fiction, Libya Kawther Al-Jahmi For June 2026, our Monthly Newsletter for Publishing Professionals (this month, curated by Masoud Masoud) will focus on Libya’s publishing scene: publishers, prizes, festivals, and how authors make things work in an unstable living, working, reading, and publishing environment. Thus, this month, we will be particularly featuring excerpts from Libyan works and talks with Libyan writers.

Interviews, Libya Kawthar al-Jahmi For June 2026, our Monthly Newsletter for Publishing Professionals (this month, curated by Masoud Masoud) will focus on Libya’s publishing scene: publishers, prizes, festivals, and how authors make things work in an unstable living, working, reading, and publishing environment. Thus, this month, we will be particularly featuring excerpts from Libyan works and talks with Libyan writers.

Interviews Charles Akl, Red Like Orange, Sarah Enany, Tugrul Mende Sarah Enany in Conversation with Tugrul Mende Today, Hoopoe Fiction (an imprint of AUC Press) publishes Charles Akl’s debut novel Red Like Orange, which won a 2023 Sawiris Cultural Award. Now, three years later, Sarah Enany’s translation of this novel is available to a new readership.