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LITERARY INFLUENCES file is from Palestinian author Mahmoud Shukair – Hemingway in Palestine. And reviews of two prize-winning books by poet Chawki Albdelamir and novelist Hafid Bouazza, and of Naguib Mahfouz’s first trilogy. The issue kicks off with an extended interview with the Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef, which interweaves the prosaic “I was born . . . “ with an explanation of how, after the pre-Islamic era, Arabic poetry became centred on allegories and metaphors and how the modern literary battleground is to reclaim the real world. It’s gripping, fascinating and important.

John Crace, The Guardian, 2 October 2004


CONTENTS

Saadi Youssef in conversation with Banipal

EDITORIAL

Mahmoud Shukair: Two short stories –
Shakira’s Picture and Mordechai’s Moustaches and his Wife’s Cats
Mohammed Al-Harthi: Six Poems
Introduced by Saadi Youssef
Rabia’a al-Ossaimi: A poem Family Photo
Ahmed El-Madini: A short story The Laws of Absence

Advance Notice > > BANIPAL LIVE < <
First-ever UK Tour of Arab authors 29 October – 13 November 2004

Ibrahim Saadi: A short story – Confessions of a Man Coming from the Dark
Ali Bader: Excerpt from the novel The Naked Feast
Aziz Azrhai: Seven Poems
Samuel Shimon: The Hedgehog – a chapter from an autobiographical novel

FEATURE ON THE NOVEL IN SAUDI ARABIA
Abdu Khal: Establishing an Aesthetic
Ali Zalah: The Progress of the Novel in Saudi Arabia
Turki al-Hamad: Two chapters from Shumaisi
Laila al-Juhni: “Jeddah is Sinking” – an excerpt from The Waste Paradise
Youssef al-Mohaimeed: Two chapters from Traps of Scent
Abdu Khal: Three chapters from Times Spares No One
Khalid Kishtainy: Ghazi Algosaibi A MAN OF MANY PARTS
Zainab Hifni: Excerpt from No More Tears
Abdullah al-Taezi: A Note on the Saudi Novel
Abdullah al-Taezi Excerpt from Al-Hafa’ir still Lives

BOOK REVIEWS
Peter Clark: The first three novels of Naguib Mahfouz – Khufu’s Wisdom, Rhapodis of Nubia and Thebes at War
James Kirkup: Poems of Chawki Abdelamir L’Obélisque d’Anaïl, Winner of the Max Jacob International Poetry Prize, 2004
Mona Zaki: Yawm al-Din [Judgement Day] by Rasha al-Ameer
Emad Fouad: on Paravion by Hafid Bouazza, Winner of Belgium’s 2004 Golden Owl Prize

LITERARY INFLUENCES
Mahmoud Shukair: Hemingway in Palestine

EVENTS
Book Launch: Tomorrow is Another Day by Khalid Kishtainy

London Launch of Without an Alphabet, Without a Face by Saadi Youssef and Miracle Maker by Fadhil al-Azzawi

Cairo Conference: Translation and Interaction of Cultures

Book Launch: Transit Beirut ed: Roseann Khalaf & Malu Halasa