Banipal 49 - A Cornucopia of Short Stories (2014)

Front cover painting: Detail of painting by Ahmed Alsoudani

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

Kadhim Jihad Hassan – Selected Poems, translated by Mary Ann Caws
Fouad El-Auwad – Poems, translated by Ken Cockburn
Mona Kareem – A Poem


A CORNUCOPIA OF SHORT STORIES

Salima SalihThe Body, translated by Sophia Vasalou

Anis ArafaiThe Moroccan Dead Transfer Company, translated by Roger Allen

Nasrin TrabulsiIt’s the Mare, Sir! – translated by Layla Almaleh

Zakaria Tamer Stars Above the Jungle and The Treasure, translated by Clayton Clark

Wajdi al-AhdalThe Basil Revolution, translated by William M Hutchins

Huzama HabayebUmbilical Cord, translated by Mona Zaki

Ibrahim FarghaliBody Map, translated by Tom Aplin

Alia al-IsmailyThe Deluge

Jokha al- HarthiOn the Wooden Park Bench . . . We Sat, translated by Clare Roberts

Hassouna MosbahiSearching for Grandmother’s House, translated by Karen McNeil

Ibrahim AslanA Path for the Young, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette

Mahmoud SaeedThe Sound of Footsteps, translated by Sophia Vasalou

Taleb AlrefaiSMILES, translated by William M Hutchins

Basma el-Khatib The Dead and The Killer, translated by Ghenwa Hayek

Ahmed Saadawi I used to Count my Friends on my Fingers, translated by Robert J Farley

Ahmed BouzfourThe Shadow and Weariness, translated by Mbarek Sryfi

Mahmoud al-BayatyJunction, translated by Hassan Abdulrazzak

Hisham BustaniCunning Clouds of Betrayal, translated by Thoraya El-Rayyes

Ahmed AlrahbiCat’s Eyes, translated by Layla Almaleh

Said al-KafrawiThe Naked, translated by Sally Gomaa

Mahmoud ShukairJerusalem There, All Alone and other stories, translated by Sarah H Abdel Halim


TRAVELLING TALE
Kamal AyadiRemembering Borisa Alexandrovna, translated by William M Hutchins


GUEST LITERATURE
Stephen Watts, poet, editor and translator
Profile and selected poems


2014 SHORTLIST OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION
Inaam Kachachi – Tashari
Abdelrahim Lahbibi – The Journeys of ’Abdi, known as Son of Al-Hamriyah
Khaled Khalifa – No Knives in this City’s Kitchens
Youssef Fadel – A Rare Blue Bird that Flies with Me
Ahmed Saadawi – Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Mourad – The Blue Elephant


TRIBUTE
Ounsi El Hage 1937–2014, a tribute by Fadhil al-Azzawi


BOOK REVIEWS

Bassam K Frangieh reviews Sherif Hetata’s autobiography Al-Nawafidh al-Maftouha (The Open Windows)

Paul Starkey reviews The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon

Stephen Watts reviews I Say My Words Out Loud by Prince Claus 2013 Principal Laureate Ahmed Fouad Negm, plus

Report on Prince Claus Fund 2013 Award Ceremony

Elspeth Carruthers reviews Leg over Leg or Al-Saq ‘ala al-Saq by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

Peter Clark reviews The Grub Hunter by Amir Tag Elsir

Susannah Tarbush reviews Private Pleasures by Hamdy el-Gazzar

 

BOOKS IN BRIEF
Fiction, Memoir, Non-Fiction

Moon & Henna Tree by Ahmed Toufiq
New Waw: Saharan Oasis
by Ibrahim al-Koni
Willow Trees Don’t Weep
by Fadia Faqir
Gaza Writes Back
, edited by Refaat Alareer
The Physician of the Caliphs
by Nabil Saleh
Poor
by Idris Ali
Black Magic
by Hamdy el-Gazzar
Rama and the Dragon
by Edwar al-Kharrat
The Hidden Light of Objects
by Mai al-Nakib
Teaching Arabs, Writing Self: Memoirs of an Arab-American Woman
by Evelyn Shakir
Fathers and Sons in the Arab Middle East
by Dalya Cohen-Mor
Alexandrian Cosmopolitanism: An Archive
by Hala Halim
Jurji Zaidan: Contributions to Modern Arab Thought and Literature
co-edited by George C. Zaidan and Thomas Philipp


EVENTS

London: Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

Casablanca: International Argana Poetry Prize

The translators in Banipal 49 are:
Sarah H Abdel Halim, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Roger Allen, Layla Almaleh, Tom Aplin, Charis Bredin, Mary Ann Caws, Clayton Clark, Ken Cockburn, Raphael Cohen, Robert J Farley, Sally Gomaa, Ghenwa Hayek, William M Hutchins, Elisabeth Jaquette, Karen McNeil, John Peate, Clare Roberts, Mbarek Sryfi, Sophia Vasalou, Jonathan Wright, Mona Zaki

The writers, artists, photographers and book reviewers are:
Ahmed Alsoudani, Fadhil al-Azzawi, Elspeth Carruthers, Peter Clark, Bassam K Frangieh, Margaret Obank, Clare Roberts, Paola Saviano, Paul Starkey, Susannah Tarbush, Stephen Watts

For information on all the translators, writers and book reviewers in Banipal 49 and for more on all other contributors, please go to:
www.banipal.co.uk/contributors/

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2014

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England