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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 Salih – The Body, translated by Sophia Vasalou
Anis Arafai – The Moroccan Dead Transfer Company, translated by Roger Allen
Nasrin Trabulsi – It’s the Mare, Sir! – translated by Layla Almaleh
Zakaria Tamer – Stars Above the Jungle and The Treasure, translated by Clayton Clark
Wajdi al-Ahdal – The Basil Revolution, translated by William M Hutchins
Huzama Habayeb – Umbilical Cord, translated by Mona Zaki
Ibrahim Farghali – Body Map, translated by Tom Aplin
Alia al-Ismaily – The Deluge
Jokha al- Harthi – On the Wooden Park Bench . . . We Sat, translated by Clare Roberts
Hassouna Mosbahi – Searching for Grandmother’s House, translated by Karen McNeil
Ibrahim Aslan – A Path for the Young, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette
Mahmoud Saeed – The Sound of Footsteps, translated by Sophia Vasalou
Taleb Alrefai – SMILES, 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 Bouzfour – The Shadow and Weariness, translated by Mbarek Sryfi
Mahmoud al-Bayaty – Junction, translated by Hassan Abdulrazzak
Hisham Bustani – Cunning Clouds of Betrayal, translated by Thoraya El-Rayyes
Ahmed Alrahbi – Cat’s Eyes, translated by Layla Almaleh
Said al-Kafrawi – The Naked, translated by Sally Gomaa
Mahmoud Shukair –Jerusalem There, All Alone and other stories, translated by Sarah H Abdel Halim
TRAVELLING TALE
Kamal Ayadi – Remembering 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 Literatureco-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/