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Synopsis
Banipal 29 is packed with Summer reading, excerpts of novels, features and photo-reports. We pay tribute to the late Iraqi poet Nazik al-Malaika who revolutionised modern Arabic poetry, and to Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi. The issue opens with an excerpt from Hassan Daoud’s novel Year of the Revolutionary New Bread-Making Machine, due out in October, his second in English translation. Salih Altoma introduces a major feature on the pioneer Iraqi novelist Ghaib Tu‘ma Farman, with excerpts from two of his novels, Five Voices and Mr Ma'ruf's Woes – the first time his work has been translated into English. The Literary Influences column charts the journey of Palestinian writer, scholar and translator Issa J Boullata, while Moroccan poet and literator Mohammed Bennis is featured in an in-depth interview and poetry in translation by Camilo Gomez-Rivas. Novelists include Saudi Arabian Yousef al-Mohaimeed with an excerpt from his novel The Bottle. Lebanese-Palestinian Nabil Abu Hamad with an excerpt from The Cripple, Lebanese Abbas Beydoun with an excerpt from Blood Test, and Iraqi Duna Ghali with an excerpt from her novel When the Scent Awakens. Poems in translation are from Sargon Boulus, Issa Makhlouf, D H Melhem, Amira Abul Husn, Salah al-Hamdani and Sinan Antoon. Just one short story in this issue from Wafa Malih. Completing the issue are Book Reviews, an extensive Books in Brief section, plus photo-reports including the RAWI Arab-American Writers Conference; Banipal’s New York reading for Lebanese poets; and Banipal’s visit to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. CONTENTS Editorial Nazik al-Malaika (23 August 1923 – 20 June 2007) – A Tribute Hassan Daoud – Excerpt from the novel Year of the Revolutionary New Bread-Making Machine Sargon Boulus – Eight Poems Yousef al-Mohaimeed – Excerpt from a new novel The Bottle Issa Makhlouf – Selected Poems D H Melhem – Two Poems Literary Influences Issa J Boullata – Books and I Feature on pioneer Iraqi novelist Ghaib Tu‘ma Farman Salih Altoma – Introduction Excerpt from the novel Five Voices [Khamsat Aswat] Excerpt from Mr Ma‘ruf’s Woes [Alaam al-Sayyid Ma‘ruf] William M Hutchins Introduction to Mr Ma‘ruf’s Woes Nabil Abu Hamad – Excerpt from the novel The Cripple Abbas Beydoun – Excerpt from the novel Blood Test Duna Ghali – Excerpt from the novel When the Scent Awakens Amira Abul Husn – Fifteen Poems Salah al-Hamdani – Six Poems Sinan Antoon – A Poem Necropolis Wafa Malih – A short story NO! Feature on Mohammed Bennis Introduction and interview by Camilo Gomez-Rivas Poems from the collections Gift of the Void and Over There You Stay Driss Chraïbi (1926 – 1 April 2007) – A Tribute Book Reviews Mona Zaki Thieves in Retirement by Hamdi Abu Golayyel Peter Clark My Name is Salma by Fadia Faqir Judith Kazantzis I‘jaam – An Iraqi Rhapsody by Sinan Antoon Tarek el-Ariss The Illusion of Return by Samir el-Youssef Zuzana Kratka Cairo Stories by Anne-Marie Drosso Books in Brief New editions of Nawal el Saadawi’s The Hidden Face of Eve, God Dies by the Nile and Woman at Point Zero; Tales of Juha: Classic Arab Folk Humour; Distant Train by Ibrahim Abdel Megid; The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction, edited by Denys Johnson-Davies; Learning English by Rachid al-Daif translated by Paula and Adnan Haydar; The Journals of Sarab Affan by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra translated by Ghassan Nasr; Streetwise by Mohamed Choukri; Pyramid Texts by Gamal al-Ghitani translated by Humphrey Davies; The Last of the Angels by Fadhil al-Azzawi translated by William M Hutchins; Maryam’s Maze by Mansoura Ez-Eldin trans. Paul Starkey; Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef el-Mohaimed, trans Anthony Calderbank; Women on a Journey between Baghdad and London by Haifa Zangana, translated by Judy Cumberbatch; Being Abbas el Abd by Ahmed Alaidy trans. Humphrey Davies; The Essential Gibran and A Little Book of Love both compiled by Professor Suheil Bushrui; Swimming Toward the Light by Angela Tehaan Leone; Does the Land Remember Me? by Aziz Shihab; Arab Culture and the Novel – Genre, Identity and Agency in Egyptian Fiction, by Muhammad Siddiq; La Part de L’étranger by Kadhim Jihad Hassan; Voices of Exiles : A Study of al-Tayyib Salih and his Work by Ami Elad-Bouskila; Letters from Cairo by Pauline Kaldas; Rituals of Memory in Contemporary Arab Women’s Writing by Brinda Mehta
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