Selections of poems and fiction, sampling the richness and variety of the hundreds of authors in the issues. Plus a chance to hear and see a few of the authors in performance.

Selected Issue: Banipal 66, Travels (Autumn/Winter 2019)

POETRY

Samer Abu Hawwash

A poem

What matters is the dough
then add whatever toppings you like,
said one of us all of a sudden
I don’t remember who now,
perhaps we had heard it on a cookery programme

OTHER SELECTIONS

Hassouna Mosbahi

From the feature on "Travels"

In my orange notebook I wrote: “I am escaping to Andalusia. I feel it is the only land that understands my sorrows and pains. No other land grasps the depth of my tragedies. Elsewhere tyrants scorch the earth and vegetation, stifle hymns of freedom, crucify lovers, and spread loathing and devastation. Only beloved Andalusia can shield me from their evil.

OTHER SELECTIONS

Said Khatibi

From the Banipal 66 feature on "Travels"

The road from Zagreb to Sarajevo is a little over four hundred kilometres. I studied the road map in the morning and reckoned that the journey would take about five hours, taking account of the time spent stopped at the Bosnian border guard post. I started the engine and headed south, towards another life, another horizon . . .