Banipal 32, Summer 2008, introduces a number of new voices for the first time published in English. There is the young Egyptian author, Mohamed Salah al-Azab, who is 27 with already several literary awards to his name, and an excerpt from his novel [Repeated Stopping]. There is short story writer Abdulaziz Al Farsi, from Oman and a cancer specialist and an excerpt from his debut novel, [Weeping Earth . . . Laughing Saturn]. Lebanese author Ahmad Ali El-Zein has authored four novels; the latest, [The Edge of Oblivion], which we excerpt here, is the first volume of a trilogy about fictional hero Abdul Jalil Ghazal. Also from Lebanon is May Menassa, with an excerpt from her novel [Walking in the Dust], which was short-listed this year for the inaugural Arabic “Booker” prize, and which tells the powerful story of dealing with tragedy and loss in war from a very young age. From Syrian author and poet Maher Sharafeddine comes an excerpt from his debut novel in which the narrator is consumed by memories of dreadful prison experiences and a poverty-stricken but adventure-filled childhood in the multi-ethnic town of Hasaka. Renowned fiction writer and dramatist Abdel Khaliq al-Rikabi is one of the few major Iraqi authors to have stayed in the country; we present an excerpt from his acclaimed novel [Seventh Day of Creation].

Banipal 32, Summer 2008, presents poetry from Syria by three poets writing in three different languages: the late Mamdouh Adwan in Arabic, Mohja Kahf who writes in English, and Adel Karasholi who writes in German – all of them highly accomplished and published poets. We also have two new poetic voices, the young Egyptian poets Ahmad Yamani and Mohamed Metwalli.

Interview with an Editor is with literary translator from Arabic to German Hartmut Fähndrich, who celebrates this year translating fifty volumes of Arabic fiction.

In Banipal 32, sadly, we pay tribute to Doris Kilias, “the voice of Naguib Mahfouz in German”, who died in June 2008, and who set tremendous standards with her translations of Naguib Mahfouz and other contemporary Arab authors. We express our sadness, also, in a tribute to Egyptian author Albert Cossery, a friend of Banipal, who died in Paris, the “Voltaire of the Nile” as the French press called him.

In this issue we present Part 2 of the Feature on Syrian Literature, and look forward to continuing it in the Autumn/Winter issue with a number of equally important authors.

The Travelling Tale is a fascinating look at the Windows of Jeruslem by Palestinian author and resident of the city Mahmoud Shukair.

Book Reviews include the prize-winning novel by Baha Taher [Sunset Oasis], Naomi Shihab-Nye’s Tender Spot collection of poetry, Banquet of Lies by Amin Zaoui and the selection in Books in Brief.

The cover artist is Zena Assi from Lebanon.

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Do check out the index of contributors for details of anything published in Banipal's issues. It is updated after each issue's publication.