Banipal is keen to promote live literature events that include Arab authors. Check out this section for news of events that Banipal is organising or is involved in. For a photo report of a recent event, click here.
Past Events
6.30-8.00pm
Zoom bookclub November
The Tale of a Wall
Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom
Translated by Luke Leafgren
6.00pm to 8.30pm UK time (GMT)
Zoom October Bookclub Meeting
The book under discussion for the October bookclub is
Out of GAZA
New Palestinian Poetry
edited by Atef Alshaer and Alan Morrison
These works by 15 Palestinian Poets,
include poems by Refaat Alareer and Hiba Abu Hada, both of whom have lost their lives in the ongoing genocide in Gaza
6.30 to 8.00pm BST (UK time)
Zoom Bookclub Meeting
ISBN: 978-1408822470
6.30-8.00pm
July Zoom Bookclub
Banipal Book club invites you to join us to discuss
The Dance of the Deep-Blue Scorpion
by Akram Musallam
translated from the Arabic by Sawad Hussain
6.30 to 8.00pm BST (UK time)
Zoom Bookclub Meeting 26 June 2024
The book under discussion is
BEFORE THE QUEEEN FALLS ASLEEP
by Palestinian author Huzama Habayeb
translated from the Arabic by Kay Heikkinen
Both the paperback and ebook are widely available, and the novel has been widely reviewed.
Kay Heikkinen won the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for her translation of the novel Velvet, also by Huzama Habayeb.
6.30-8.00pm
April Bookclub on Zoom
The next Bookclub will be discussing
Shadow of the Sun
with its author Taleb Alrefai and its translator Nashwa Nasreldin
Published by Banipal Books, October 2023, it is available as a paperback and an ebook.
6.00pm to 9.pm
Brunei Gallery, Thornhaugh Stt, London WC1B 5DQ
The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation 2023
celebrates literary translation with the Annual Lecture and the Winner
of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
6.00pm-9.00pm, THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2024
The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1B 5DQ
ALL WELCOME
to this free event, in-person and online
6.30pm to 8.00pm
November Book Club on Zoom
The November bookclub will discuss
THE TENT GENERATIONS,
PALESTINIAN POEMS
Works by 16 Palestinian poets – selected, introduced, and translated from the Arabic by Mohammed Sawaie
and published by Banipal Books in the UK in April 2022, and due out in the US in February 2024.
Available as a paperback and an ebook
6.30-8.00pm BST (UK Time)
October Book Club on Zoom
The October 2023 Bookclub will discuss
Birds of Nabaa,
A Mauritanian Tale
by Abdallah Uld Mohamadi Bah
Translated from the Arabic by Raphael Cohen
6.30pm
The Byre Theatre Abbey Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9LA
Light from the East: Middle Eastern Art Now
with Catherine Cobham, Nouri al-Jarrah and Fabio Caiani.
This is a FREE multi-media celebration of Middle Eastern art, but do book your place
6.30pm to 8.00pm
September Book Club on Zoom
Our next book club will be in September, not August, when many of us are having a break. The book under discussion will be:
THE BOOKSELLER'S NOTEBOOKS
by Jalal Barjas
translated by Paul G. Starkey
7:45 pm - 8:35 pm UK time
G7, 3401 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Mohammed Sawaie is in conversation with Bill Mullen at the Palestine Writes Festival about his book
The Tent Generations, Palestinian Poems
which was published by Banipal Books earlier this year
6.30-8.00pm BST (UK Time)
July Zoom bookclub discussion
The novel under discussion for July is:
Sarmada by Fadi Azzam,
translated by Adam Talib
6.30 to 8.00pm BST (UK time)
June Zoom Bookclub Meeting
The June bookclub will discuss
The Dispersal
by Inaam Kachachi
translated from the Arabic by Inam Jaber
published December 2022 by Interlink Publishing, USA
6.30-8.00pm
May Zoom Book Club meeting
The May book club will discuss
The Drowning
by Hammour Ziada
translated by Paul G Starkey, who will be joining the discussion at 7pm.
published Fall 2022 by Interlink Publishing
https://www.interlinkbooks.com/product/the-drowning/
6.30pm-8.00pm (London time)
April Bookclub on Zoom
The book under discussion is:
Warda by Sonallah Ibrahim
translated from the Arabic by Hosam Aboul-Ela
Sonallah Ibrahim’s 2000 masterpiece offers readers a view of twentieth-century world events through the diary pages of his titular character
12:30pm ET (17.30pm London Time))
The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA
The Tent Generations: Palestinian Poems
Dr. Mohammed Sawaie will talk about his new book of poems by 16 major Palestinian poets, whose poems he selected, translated and introduced.
6.30pm-8.00pm (London time)
March Bookclub on Zoom
The March Book club meeting will discuss
The Disappearance of Mr. Nobody
by Ahmed Taibaoui
Translated by Jonathan Wright
7pm
Lit & Phil Library, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 1SE
Save the date – Thurday 9 March – for the Banipal Magazine 25 Years Celebration – A Grand Evening of Literature
6.30-8.00pm GMT (London Time)
February Bookclub on Zoom
Make a date to discuss one of the winning two works of the 2022 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
6.00pm UK time GMT
Online with Banipal Trust and co-hosted by Arts Canteen
Make a date online for Thursday evening – 9 February 2023
The Banipal Trust for Arab Literature’s celebration of the winners of the 2022 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation takes place the day after the Society of Authors' Award Ceremony on 8 February for all the translation prizes they administer.
Moderated by the Banipal Trust Chair Prof Paul Starkey, the celeberation will comprise readings in both languages from both the winning books, a discussion and a Q&A session.
This event is co-hosted by Arts Canteen and Banipal Trust for Arab Literature.
6.30pm
Zoom
The book under discussion is Gaza Weddings by Ibrahim Nasrallah, translated by Nancy Roberts
7pm
Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black's Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9DT
Save the date, 18 January 2023, for our 25 Years Celebration of Arab Literature
6.30-8.00pm London Time
Banipal October 2022 BookClub on Zoom
The Night Will Have Its Say
by Ibrahim al-Koni
Translated by Nancy Roberts (published by Hoopoe Fiction, 2022)
Nancy Roberts will be joining the online discussion.
6.30pm-8.00pm (London time)
Next Book Club on Zoom (August – no book club in July)
Hot Maroc by Yassin Adnan, translated by Alexander Elinson
With an infectious blend of humor, satire, and biting social commentary, Yassin Adnan gives readers a portrait of contemporary Morocco — and the city of Marrakech — told through the eyes of the hapless Rahhal Laâouina, a.k.a. the Squirrel.
6.30-8.00pm BST (London time)
Banipal June Book Club on Zoom
The Book Smuggler
by Omaima Al-Khamis
translated by Sarah Enany
winner of the 2021 Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize
This book won the 2018 Naguib Mahouz Medal for Literature and was longlisted for the 2019 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
It is published by Hoopoe Fiction in paperback and ebook editions
6.30pm-8.00pm (London time)
May Book Club on Zoom
Things I Left Behind
by Shada Mustafa
translated from the Arabic by Nancy Roberts
(published by Banipal Books, 9 May 2022)
Shada Mustafa and Nancy Roberts will both be joining us for an unusual May bookclub-cum-book launch.
All welcome
Just email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the login details for this online Zoom event
If you have difficulty getting hold of a copy, please email us at bookclub@banipal.co.uk and we'll try to help.
6.30pm-8.00pm
April Book Club on Zoom
The April Book Club will discuss
Slipping
by Egyptian author Mohamed Kheir
translated into English by Robin Moger, who is joining us for the session
published by Two Lines Press
NB: For this month only the meeting is moved to THURSDAY, instead of our usual Wednesday.
All welcome
Just email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the login details for this online Zoom event
If you have difficulty getting hold of a copy, please email us at bookclub@banipal.co.uk and we'll try to help.
6.30pm
March Book Club on Zoom
I Do Not Sleep by Ihsan Abdel Kouddous,
translated by Jonathan Smolin (Hoopoe Fiction, 2021)
"A story of betrayal, desire, and family drama, written by a giant of Egyptian popular fiction who shocked readers in the 1950s when this Lolita-esque novel first appeared and whose work has never before been available in English" – Hoopoe Fiction.
All welcome
Just email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the login details for this online Zoom event
If you have difficulty getting hold of a copy, please email us at bookclub@banipal.co.uk and we'll try to help.
8.15pm
StAnza International Poetry Festival, The Byre Theatre – Auditorium, Abbey Street, St Andrews, KY16 9LA
Nouri al-Jarrah, author of A Boat to Lesbos (Banipal Books 2018), will be appearing at Scotland's International Poetry Festival, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.
The Friday of this year’s festival (7–13 March) is dedicated primarily to questions of exile, migration, belonging and tracing one’s roots, and will culminate in Poetry Centre Stage, an exciting triple bill from three major writers born respectively in Zambia, Jamaica and Syria, currently living in the UK / the US – Kayo Chingonyi, Safiya Sinclair and Nouri al-Jarrah.
Nouri Al-Jarrah will read from four decades of work written in exile, including poems from A Boat to Lesbos and his most recent work, The Stone Serpent, Barates of Palmyra’s Elegy to Regina his Beloved (being published later this year by Banipal Books). The latter epic poem awakens two extraordinary lovers, Barates, a Syrian from Palmyra, and Regina, the Celtic slave he freed and married, from where they have lain at rest beside Hadrian’s Wall for eighteen centuries, and tells their unique love story.
Read More6.00-7.00pm
Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's College, Windmilll Hill, Durham DH1 3LJ
Writing in the Time of War
Khaled Khalifa will speak about his own experience and writing and will read an extract from his novel Death is Hard Work.
Join us on Thursday 10th March 2022 at 18:00 at the Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan's College, for the lecture.
A drinks reception will be held following the event.
We are also hosting the lecture online.
To book your place please scan the QR code below.
6.30pm
Book Club on Zoom
A Bed for the King’s Daughter is a collection of experimental short stories by of Syrian author Shahla Ujayli that uses surrealism and irony to examine women’s agency and the decline of modern collective life. It was shortlisted for the 2021 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize. Its Arabic original won Al-Multaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story in 2017.
All welcome
Just email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the login details for this online Zoom event
If you have difficulty getting hold of a copy, please email us at bookclub@banipal.co.uk
5.00pm
Online Celebration with Zooom
An Evening with
Sarah Enany and Rasha Adly,
in conversation with Roger Allen (chair of judges), with readings and Q&A
and an interlude of Nay music
The Banipal Trust for Arab Literature invites you to an online celebration of the 2021 Winner.
It takes place the week after the award ceremony, on Thursday 17 February at 5.00pm GMT
organised in partnership
with Arts Canteen
6.00pm
Society of Authors Zoom link
Translation Prizes 2021
– Save the Date –
10 February 2022 / 6PM / online
Join us online
for the Society of Authors
Translation Prizes 2021
‘Powerful evidence that the art of translation is alive and thriving’
At this online event,
the 2021 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation will be awarded to
Sarah Enany for her translation of the novel The Girl with Braided Hair by Rasha Adly,
published by Hoopoe Fiction.
6.30pm
26 January 2022 Book Club on Zoom
The book under discussion is the 2021 winner of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize
The Girl with Braided Hair by Rasha Adly, translated by Sarah Enany and published by Hoopoe Fiction
Available as a paperback and an ebook.
All welcome
Just email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the login details for this online Zoom event
6.30 to 8.00 GMT (UK time)
Book Club on Zoom
The book under discussion:
Sarajevo Firewood by Algerian novelist and cultural journalist Saïd Khatibi. Its translator Paul Starkey, Emeritus Professor of Arabic, University of Durham, and the award-winning translator of many works of contemporary Arabic fiction, will be joining us. The novel was published by Banipal Books in September 2021.
Available as paperback or ebook from here or from your usual online sources.
6.30pm
Book Club on Zoom
The book under discussion:
The Critical Case of a Man Called K by Aziz Mohammad, translated by Humphrey Davies. Published by Hoopoe Fiction.
6.30pm
Bookclub on Zoom
Discussion on the novelThe Slave Yards by Najwa Bin Shatwan, translated by Nancy Roberts. Shortlisted for the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, this unforgettable novel offers a window into a dark chapter of Libyan history and illuminates the lives of women with great pathos and humanity.
Fadia Faqir writes of it: "This beautifully written novel is a milestone because an Arab woman writer dared to investigate, describe, and expose two slaveries: that of slaves and that of women."
ALL WELCOME
6.30pm
Online on Zoom
6.30pm
Online with Zoom
The book under discussion is God 99 by Iraqi author Hassan Blasim. It is translated by Jonathan Wright, who will join the meeting, ready to answer any questions, and talk about the work.
Please email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to register to receive the details to join the Zoom meeting.
18.00 GMT
Livestreamed
FREE online event, hosted by the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature in collaboration with Arts Canteen.
6.30pm
4 Nov 2020 Book Club on Zoom
The next Banipal Book Club will discuss The Eye of the Mirror by Liana Badr, who will give the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize Lecture on 11 November. It is translated by Samira Kawar, who will be attending the meeting.
Email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to register and be sent the Zoom login-in details.
6.00 to 7.30pm
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, NY University, 255 Sullivan St. NY10012
Syrian poet Nouri Al-Jarrah
in conversation with Hala Halim
plus readings from his collection
A Boat to Lesbos
Co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature, the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and the Center for the Study of Africa and the African Diaspora
6.00 to 8.00pm
Smith Buonanno, Room 106, Brown University, Rhode Island
A Boat to Lesbos
Syrian poet Nouri al-Jarrah
reads from his first book in English translation
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow
Sponsored by the Center for Language Studies, Middle East Studies, Literary Arts, The Program in Modern Greek Studies, and the C.V. Starr Foundation Lectureship at Brown University
6.30pm
Meetings Room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE
Banipal Book Club discusses the new Adonis work in translation Concerto Al-Quds
6pm
Kings College London, Lecture Theatre 1, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG
The Arab British Centre, Banipal Book Club & KCL Action Palestine
have pleasure in inviting you to a screening of
The Dupes
Afternoons and Evenings until 18 September
Institute of Contemporary Arts & Institut français
SAFAR – A Literary Journey through Arab Cinema
SAFAR Film Festival highlights one of the most underexplored chapters of Arab film history – the 1960s until today. It screens classic adaptations from Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, including some world premier restorations, and explore the myriad ways in which literature and storytelling can influence contemporary cinema – from story structure, to folklore, to autobiography – with a selection of documentaries, shorts, and features from Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, and Lebanon, all accompanied by expert Q&As.
1.30pm to 2.30pm
Frankfurt Book Fair, Hall 3.1. (L25) The Weltempfang Center for Politics, Literature and Translation
Crises in the Arab world – good for creativity? Literary responses
(Arabic, English, German)
Panel debate with Libyan poet and translator Ashur Etwebi, Syrian poet and critic Mohamad Alaaedin Abdul Moula, and Samuel Shimon, Iraqi author and founding editor of Banipal and Kikah literary magazines.
Moderated by Peter Ripken.
A collaboration between ICORN International Cities of Refuge Network and Banipal Magazine of Modern Arab Literature
2pm
Waterstones Gower Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6EQ
BANIPAL EVENT
AT THE GREAT MAGAZINE
WEEKEND
Syrian author Dima Wannous, Libyan author Ghazi Gheblawi, translator Jonathan Wright (winner of the 2016 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize) and Banipal publisher Margaret Obank. Moderated by Arabist and translator Becki Maddock.
9pm
Upper Foyer, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Schaperstraße 24, 10719 Berlin
Twenty Years of Banipal Magazine – Arabic Literature in
English
Amin
Zaoui (Algeria), Mariam Al Saadi (United Arab Emirates), Emad Fouad (Egypt),
Nouri Al-Jarrah (Syria), Veronika Dintinjana (Slovenia), Samuel Shimon (Iraq/UK) and Margaret Obank (UK) present the independent magazine of modern
Arabic literature Banipal
Moderator: Stefan Weidner
with interpreter Mustafa Al-Slaiman and reader Matthias Scherwenikas
6.30pm for 7.00pm start
Waterstones Piccadilly 203-206 Piccadilly, London W1V 9LE
Literary Awards in the Arab World
with special guest Mohammad Hasan Alwan,
winner of this year's International Prize for Arabic Fiction
6.30-8.30pm
Arab British Centre Meeting Room, 1 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE
Supporting Refugee Week 2017 with
our second WELCOME LITERARY SALON
Presenting a diverse evening of special guests, literature, discussion, poetry, film, books, readings, theatre, performance, and open mic – looking at the question of how literature is dealing with the biggest enforced movement of people ever recorded.
6.30-8.00pm
Arab British Centre Meeting Room, 1 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE
The next Book Club meeting will discuss The Bamboo Stalk by Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi, which won the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction and the 2016 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
7pm
International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester M1 5BY
A Celebration of Arabic Literature in English Translation
The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation invites you to a celebratory evening with the translator and the author of this year's winning novel The Bamboo Stalk.
Jonathan Wright, who wins the prize a second time with this translation, is joined by the novel’s young Kuwaiti author, Saud Alsanousi, in conversation with journalist Ben East.
The evening is introduced by Carnegie Medal-winning children’s writer Melvin Burgess.
6.30-8.00pm
Meetings Room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square London EC4A 3DE
The Banipal Book Club holds its first meeeting of 2017
We will be discussing the novel
No Knives in the Kitchens of this City
by Syrian author Khaled Khalifa,
translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
6.30 p.m.-9.00 p.m.
Waterstone's Piccadilly, 203/206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
A Gala Literary Evening
for
Banipal 57 – Syria in the Heart
Three authors from Syria in the Heart: Nouri A-Jarrah reads and discusses his dramatic poem A Boat to Lesbos; performance poet Charlotte Van den Broeck, a household name in her native Belgium, from Guest Literature from Flanders; and Iraqi novelist Muhsin al-Ramli with his novel The President's Gardens (to be published by Maclehose Press, April 2017)
6.30pm
Meetings Room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square London EC4A 3DE
The Banipal Book Club is back!
The book to be discussed is The Longing of the Dervish by Sudanese author Hammour Ziada, translated by Jonathan Wright. The Arabic original won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2014 and was shortlisted for the 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
6.30pm
Arab British Centre, Meetings Room & Library, 1 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE
Supporting Refugee Week with
the WELCOME LITERARY SALON
Do join us for a diverse evening of literature, discussion, poetry, film, readings, theatre and performance
6.30pm for 7.00pm
Waterstone's Piccadilly, 203/206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
Ahmad Al Malik and Tarek Eltayeb, two of Sudan’s acclaimed and inspiring writers, are on a special visit to London to talk about their work and the Sudanese literary scene today. With readings from Banipal 55 – Sudanese Literature Today, the magazine’s latest edition.
6.30 p.m.-9.00 p.m.
Waterstone's Piccadilly, 203/206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
Celebrate 2015's best literary translation from Arabic with the winner of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize and his author in conversation with Gaby Wood
6.15 p.m. for 6.30 p.m.
Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU
The Award Ceremony of Translation Prizes from Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Swedish
This is a free event, but please reserve your seat by emailing annamaria@banipal.co.uk
6.30 p.m.-8.00 p.m.
The Arab British Centre Meetings Room, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
Next Banipal Book Club Meeting
The 29 entries for the 2015 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
6.30pm
4th Floor, Waterstone’s Piccadilly Bookstore, 203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
Photos and news of the event are posted here, on Facebook, on Instagram and on the News pages of this site.
6.30 p.m.
Meetings room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
Library
Open Evening
A post-Shubbak, pre-holiday discussion and refreshments with publishers and literature promoters, and the chance to browse through displays of latest works
6.30 p.m.
4th floor, Waterstone's Piccadilly, 203/206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
The launch of The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi, winner of the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
6.30pm
Meetings room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
Banipal Book Club meets to discuss
The Corpse Washer, written and translated by Sinan Antoon, winner of the 2014 Saif Ghobash Banpal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
ALL WELCOME
Read More6.15 p.m. for 6.30 p.m.
Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London SW1P 3EU
The Award Ceremony of Translation Prizes from Arabic, French, German, Spanish and Italian
• This is a free event, but please reserve your place by emailing marco@banipal.co.uk
6.30 p.m.-9.00 p.m.
Waterstone's Piccadilly (4th floor), 203/206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
In conversation: the Winner of Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation - Sinan Antoon
18:30 – 20:30
Meetings room & Library, Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
First ever BALMAL Library Open Evening
The first ever BALMAL Open Evening, hosted by the Arab British Centre and Banipal, has been very successful: the room was full of visitors and animated conversation!
The Library now has a number of new members, and many of the duplicate ex-library books were sold. Interest in Arab literature is definitely increasing.
7pm
The Mosaic Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, London, SW5
BOOK LAUNCH: Collected Poetical Works of Saadi Youssef
The event will be followed by a reception and book signing session.
FREE but please reserve your place by emailing rsvp@mosaicrooms.org
2.30pm-4.30pm
The Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE
SEVEN YEARS ON: PRESERVING LITERARY HERITAGE
Wednesday 5 March 2014 | 14:30 – 16:30
Meeting Room, The Arab British Centre
1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE
This event is FREE but please RSVP so we have an idea of numbers.
RSVP | info@arabbritishcentre.org.uk | 020 7832 1310
2-4.30 pm
Meetings Room & Library, The Arab British Centre
Roundtable on Arabic Literary Translation
Jonathan Wright William M Hutchins
This
is a Roundtable discussion with the joint winners of the 2013 Saif
Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, Jonathan Wright
and William M. Hutchins, chaired by Professor Yasir Suleiman.
7.00 pm
The Gallery, Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road
Arabic Literature in English
An evening with the prizewinning translators and their novels
Celebrating
the joint prizewinners of the 2013 Saif Ghobash Prize for Arabic
Literary Translation, Jonathan Wright and William M. Hutchins.
Introduced by Paul Starkey
With readings from the novels and a drinks reception
6.30pm to 8.00pm
Lecture Theatre, Kensington Central Library, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RX
Launch of Banipal 48
Do join us for this singular literary celebration of the Red City of Marrakech.
18.30-20.00
Meeting Room, Kensington Central Library, Phillimore Walk, W8 7RX
NOUR FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
Short stories from the Arab world
with Banipal Book Club
Three short stores from different Arab countries:
Mordechai's Moustache and his Wife's Cats by Mahmoud Shukair (Palestine), Black Kohl . . . White Heart by Mona al-Shammari (Kuwait) and Ali the Red by Luay Hamza Abbas (Iraq).
No knowledge of Arabic required.
Read More
Doors open 6.30 pm for 7.00pm start
The Mosaic Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, London, SW5
Celebrate Banipal 45 – Writers from Palestine at The Mosaic Rooms with two authors from the issue – Asma'a Azaizeh and Marwan Makhoul. Join them for readings of their works, for discussion and a reception
6.45-7.15pm, 7.30-8.00pm and 8.15-8.45pm.
V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Banipal Short Story Circles at the V&A as part of the V&A's Friday Late: Record, Reframe, Resist and the Nour Festival of Arts.
Read More7.00pm
Bayleaf Restaurant, Birmingham
Libyan Authors and Banipal at the Birmingham Book Festival
Read More2-3pm
Clore Ballroom, Southbank Centre
Banipal Celebration Reading at the South Bank Centre with Hassan El Ouazzani (Morocco), Khaled Mattawa (Libya), Saadia Mufarreh (Kuwait), Amjad Nasser (Jordan), Iman Mersal (Egypt) and Rasha Omran (Syria)
One week event
Southbank Centre – Royal Festival Hall
POETRY PARNASSUS
The largest gathering of international poets ever seen, as part of the UK Cultural Olympiad prior to the opening of the Olympic Games at the end of July 2012
New film about Etel Adnan by the Otolith Group
Fabrica Gallery in Brighton
I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another
6.30 to 8.30
The Banipal Arab British Centre Library
SECOND BANIPAL BOOK CLUB MEETING
For the second Book Club meeting, we will be reading Out of It by Selma Dabbagh
Three day event
TRIPOLI INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
Organised by Ashur Etwebi and Khaled Mattawa
The first major literary festival in Libya featured poets, scholars, and literary professionals from Algeria, Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Evening
Abu Dhabi
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2012 and the Abu Dhabi Book Fair
The award ceremony of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction took place in the evening of the 27 March 2012, and was followed by the opening of the Abu Dhabi book fair the next morning.
12.30pm
King's Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
Join Adina Hoffman as she talks about her biography of the great Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali. This event is part of Jewish Book Week.
Evening
King's Place
Presentation of the 2011 Saif Ghobash - Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
6.30-9.30pm
Curiositea, Warwick University
1001 Arabian Nights in One Night
Literature from the Arab world
An evening of readings and discussion with guest speaker Banipal's publisher Margaret Obank talking about the current Arabic literary scene
Organised by the English Literature Society as part of the University's One World Week.
Evening
Intercontinental Beach Garden, Abu Dhabi
A collaboration between New York University Abu Dhabi and Banipal to celebrate Emirati literature in English and Arabic. Part of the New York University conference on World Literature and Translation.
7.00pm
The Gallery and Library, The Arab British Centre
Banipal Winter Reception to Celebrate the Authors and Translators in Banipals 42, 41 and 40.
7.45pm
Southbank Centre
State of Emergency. An evening of poetry from the Arab world at the Southbank Centre.
All day
Aldeburgh Poetry Festival
Over the course of the festival, Margaret Obank, Amjad Nasser, Kay Ryan and Fergus Allen, and judge of this year's Popescu Prize Jane Draycott gave a number of talks on their work in the Arabic literary field, along with poetry readings.
1pm
Manchester Literature Festival
Past winner Raja Alem (2011) from Saudi Arabia, and former judges Ghalia Kabbani and Paul Starkey in discussion about the importance and global impact of this prize, and the role fiction can play in promoting cultural understanding.
Four day event
Frankfurt Book Fair
An exciting and inspiring four days for Banipal, with great interest in the three issues of 2011 that were presented at the Fair.
A three day event
Fondation Royaumont, Asnières sur Oise, France.
Sleep Song
From the dreams and nightmares that have haunted US veterans of the Iraq war, Mike Ladd created poems. These poems led to an encounter with the other side. In Baghdad, Ahmed Abdul Hussein, too, felt the war as a source of words and wrote poetry. A meeting between invisible enemies who become visible men. The premiere of Sleep Song was at Fondation Royaumont, Asnières sur Oise, France on 30 September, followed by a second performance
7pm
The Gallery at Foyles Charing Cross Road
Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize
In celebration of the Harvill Secker Young Translators' Prize, author
Penelope Lively, journalist Maya Jaggi, Prize founder Briony Everroad
and translator Paul Starkey will discuss literature in translation and
this year's chosen language for the prize, Arabic.
7pm
The Mosaic Rooms, 226 Cromwell Road, London SW5 0SW
Launch of One Day in April, a new novel by Jad El Hage
all day
Berlin International Literature Festival
Emirati writers Khulood al-Mualla and Sara al-Jarwan with Samuel Shimon at the Berlin International Literature Festival. The visit of the two authors was supported by the Emirates Foundation
3 - 4.30pm
The Bluecoat
An Iraqi in Paris:
Samuel Shimon in conversation with Eckhard Thiemann at the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival
7.30pm
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Modern Tunisian Poetry – Tahar Bekri, Amina Saïd with distinguished American poet and translator Marilyn Hacker in Gala Poetry Performances – plus Supper
7.00pm
London Review Bookshop
Ramsey Nasr, Poet Laureate of the Netherlands, at LRB's World Literature Weekend, in conversation about his work and Heavenly Life, selected poems in English translation, with readings
8pm - 11pm
St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
THE PREMIERE OF
The Ziggurat Builders
a new composition for Voice, Oud and Cello by Marcus Davidson exploring the music of the voice and the Oud from medieval to contemporary sounds, with title and libretto taken from an existing poem by the late Iraqi Assyrian poet Sargon Boulus (1944-2007).
7.00pm
Poetry International, South Bank Centre, London SE1
7.00pm, Saturday 6 November 2010
St. Paul’s Pavilion, Royal Festival Hall, Level 6
Jasmine Donahaye, Adam Foulds, Nathalie Handal and Ramsey Nasr
various
South Bank Centre, London, SE1
Poetry International London, 28 October to 6 November, focused on Palestine and the Middle East, hosting poets from around the world on the theme of imagining peace.
Read Moreall day
Buchmesse, Frankfurt
Banipal had a stand in the newly organised Weltempfang in the Frankfurt Book Fair's Hall 5. On Sunday 10 October (10.10.1) Banipal's editor Samuel Shimon hosted a discussion on Tunisian literature, the theme of Banipal 39 that was published on 1st October.
Read More8.00pm
Frome Festival
Last year’s first ‘Arab Evening’ of readings, music, and delectable middle eastern dishes proved so popular there will be repeat helpings at Trinity Hall this summer, with Syrian author Ghalia Kabbani and, from Iraq, playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak and oud player Khyam Allami.
7.45pm
Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London – Emirati Poets
Khalid Albudoor, Khulood al-Mu’alla and Nujoom al-Ghanem, three successful modernist Emirati poets, have their first London reading with specially commissioned English translations of their works
Read More2.30-3.30pm
Ledbury Poetry Festival – Iraqi poets
Poetry and Iraq – two poets in the forefront of Iraqi writing today – Fadhil al-Azzawi and Sinan Antoon discuss the place of poetry in Iraq and read from their works
Read More8.00-10.30pm
Ledbury Poetry Festival – Emirati Poets
Khalid al-Budoor, Khulood al-Mu’alla and Nujoom al-Ghanem, three successful modern Emirati poets, read their works and meet poetry-loving audiences at the annual Ledbury Poetry Festival
2 – 7pm
Live at Bernie Spain Gardens on the South Bank, London, SE1 9PP
BBC Radio 3's World Routes Academy 2010 – Iraq at Celebrating Sanctuary Festival
An afternoon’s events dedicated to Iraqi culture – live music, spoken word, workshops and discussions
10-13 March 2010
Dubai Festival City
More than 80 authors from around the world converged on Dubai Festival City for the second Emirates Airline International Literature Festival
9.00am to 6.00pm
Frankfurt Book Fair
Visit Banipal at the Frankfurt Book Fair
We're in the International Centre, in Hall 5.0, Stand D912
7:00pm to 9:30pm
London Review Bookshop
The London Review Bookshop
The event featured not only the poets Siham Bouhlal and Mustafa Stitou, who came from Paris and the Netherlands respectively, but also the spirit of two others, Hassan Najmi and Ouidad Benmoussa, both of whom should have been there but for the new and infamous privatised system for getting VISAs to come to the UK, which made it impossible for them to make the visit. All with works published in Banipal 35.
12:45pm / 8:00pm
Ledbury Poetry Festival
The Ledbury Poetry Festival
• Launching two Arabic poetry books
• Introducing Moroccan Poets
Two Arabic poetry events, featuring the launch of two new books by Banipal Books, Shepherd of Solitude by Amjad Nasser (pictured) and Knife Sharpener by the late Sargon Boulus. Plus Moroccan poets Siham Bouhlal and Mustafa Stitou, who live in Europe and who wonderfully stepped in when the UK's new visa system prevented well-known poets from Morocco setting foot in the UK.
8:00pm to 10:00pm
Frome
Frome Festival 2009
Arab Writing Today
An exciting event, the first of its kind at the Frome Festival: three Arab writers came together to give readings and to talk about their work.
Read More7pm
London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL
Breaking through: Syrian writers in conversation and performance
Hala Mohammed, Monzer Masri, Rasha Omran, Lukman Derky, four Syrian poets - who are also a film-maker, a painter, an arts festival director, and a journalist / scriptwriter respectively - were seen in conversation (on writing, publishing and the arts in Syria today) – and in performance. Audiences were able to hear readings of poems, newly translated for the latest issue of Banipal 31, which included a major feature on contemporary Syrian literature. Free wine and nibbles were served after the event.
Syrian Poets in UK
Ledbury Poetry Festival and London Review Bookshop
Ledbury Poetry Festival and London Review Bookshop Hala Mohammad, Monzer Masri, Rasha Omran and Lukman Derky visited the UK for events at the Ledbury Poetry Festival and the London Review Bookshop.
3.30pm
BBC Radio 4
FIVE SHORT STORIES FROM NORTH AFRICA
published in translation in BANIPAL MAGAZINE
with some republished in the collection SARDINES AND ORANGES, published by Banipal Books
were broadcast, in the English translation, one a day, as below, from Monday to Friday, 5 to 9 May
Produced by Square Dog Productions for Radio 4.
6.00 to 7.30pm
Manchester Central Library
Banipal magazine is the winner of the 2008 Incwriters Outstanding Contribution to Literature (Magazines) award. It was chosen from the short list of ten magazines below and the award presented at a ceremony at Manchester Central Library.
7pm
Abu Dhabi
At a splendid award ceremony in Abu Dhabi on 10 March 2008, the chair of judges of the new International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as the Arab Booker, announced that the inaugural winner of the £50,000 prize was Egyptian author Bahaa Taher for his novel Wahat al-Ghurub [Sunset Oasis].
6.30pm to 9pm
IDEA STORE, WHITECHAPEL, London E1
SMALL AND INDEPENDENT 11
A press publishing talk, Q&A and networking event:
Four publishers and editors shared their experience of setting up a small press and gave advice to guide attendees on their way through the process. Panellists included Shaun Levin, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Margaret Obank, and Chris Hamilton-Emery.
All day each day
FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
The world’s largest fair for the book trade was attended by even more visitors than last year, over 280,000. Hall 5, home of Frankfurt Book Fair’s International Centre was a veritable hub, housing the Guest of Honour Pavilion for Catalan Culture, as well publishers from the Arab world, South American and African countries, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Armenia, and many others; also booths for small independent literary publishers, such as Banipal, Dar al-Jamal, and Hans Schiler Verlag.
11am to 7pm
The Lowry, Salford
Manchester Festival of Literature’s Independents' Day was a day of activities for independent small publishers,mostly local magazine and poetry publishers.
Banipal's stand exhibited and sold magazines and books, including the two new collections of short stories, Mordechai's Moustache and his Wife's Cats and A Retired Gentleman.
6.30pm for 7pm
Institut Français, 17 Queensberry Place, London
Banipal magazine & the Institut Français
host special reception and poetry reading
to welcome poets from Lebanon
Abdo Wazen, Zeinab Assaf and Bassam Hajjar
2.30pm
Burgage Hall, Ledbury Poetry Festival
FROM
LEBANON
TO LEDBURY
Lebanese poets visited the UK for this exclusive event at the Ledbury Poetry Festival. Two of the poets had never read in the UK before and one is newly translated into English.
7pm
Poets House, 72 Spring St, 2nd floor, New York
An invitation
to celebrate today’s poets
from Lebanon
7.00pm
Virgin Megastore Bookshop, Beirut Centre Ville, Beirut
Lebanese author Jad El Hage launches his second novel written in English The Myrtle Tree (Banipal Books) in Beirut.
9.30am
Amman, Jordan
The 2nd International Translation Conference of the Arab Thought Foundation was held in Amman, 27 and 28 April 2007. An important panel was organised by the Next Page Foundation, which looked at the experience of promoting Arab literature outside the Arab world, and that means, in translation.
7pm for 7.30pm
Daunt Books, 112-114 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UA
A great crowd of friends, journalists, critics, literary agents, publishers and authors, among them Hanan al-Shaykh, Hisham Matar, Aamer Hussein and Amjad Nasser, gathered at Daunt Books for the London launch of The Myrtle Tree.
12 noon
London Book Fair, Central Books Stand
Author of The Myrtle Tree Jad El Hage joined the throng of visitors and exhibitors at The London Book Fair's new venue at Earl's Court, just a stone's throw from where he used to live when he was in London.
All day
17th ABU DHABI INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR
THIS year’s book fair, was organised for the first time in co-operation with the Frankfurt Book Fair and housed in a dedicated ultra-modern exhibition centre. The week-long fair was open every day to the public with free admission; schools took it in turns to attend en masse, from kindergarten to secondary school and university.
6pm
Northcote Town Hall, Northcote, Melbourne, Australia
Australians for Lebanon
launched The Myrtle Tree
by Lebanese Australian Jad El Hage, who was introduced by Joe Camilleri, Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University
Organised with the support of Darebin and Australian and Lebanese Historical Society
7pm
Afaq Bookshop, Qasr Al-Aini Street, Cairo
Afaq Bookshop, Qasr Al-Aini Street, Cairo
Samuel Shimon read from his autobiographical novel Iraqi fi Baris
. . . AN IRAQ'S NEVER-ENDING DREAM is reported by Ahmed Maged in the Beirut Daily Star . . .
6.30pm
THE IRISH CENTRE, HAMMERSMITH, LONDON W6
At the Hammersmith & Fulham WORDwide Festival, Banipal hosts an evening with three Arab authors who live and write in London.
Daytime and evening
Berlin, Germany
Contemporary Arab Representations: The Iraqi Equation was a multi-media cultural project curated and arranged by Catherine David in Berlin’s KW Institute for Contemporary Art in December 2005 and February 2006.
Read Moreall month
ASSILAH, Morocco
Assilah, this small village on the Atlantic, has been host to a major month-long cultural festival since 1978.
BANIPAL LIVE TOUR
London, Newcastle, Manchester, Lancaster, Edinburgh, Tyne & Wear, Southwold
The tour brings together four renowned poets and fiction writers from Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon connecting and engaging audiences in the rich and vibrant cultures of these three areas, mainly known in the UK as scenes of war.