Barakunan and author Youssef Rakha, whose short story collection Emissaries was launched in the UK by Barakunan this spring, are joined by writers Yumna Kassab (Sydney), Guy Gunaratne (Malmo via London), and writer/translator Alexander Booth (Berlin) for a chat on publishing as an industry, English as a malleable instrument, translation in writing and literary belonging.

The conversation is interspersed with snippets from the Emissaries audiobook, which is out on audiobook platforms and available for purchase on the Barakunan website.

Short story readings in the episode, in order:

The End Night

The Trees Are Houses

The Secret History of Atheism

The show premiered on Radio Alhara on April 17

Producer Barakunan

Hosts Dani Arbid, Youssef Rakha

Guests Yumna Kassab, Guy Gunaratne, Alexander Booth

This is a Bara Digital production

The second and final part in Barakunan's conversation with poets and activists Dayna Ash & lisa luxx. Readings by the writers interspersed with conversation on political agency, fragmentation, the currency of collaboration, anti-capitalist forms of collaboration and more.

Writers Dayna Ash, lisa luxx

Composer Jad Atoui

Producers Sarah Huneidi, Barakunan

Host Dani Arbid

Recorded at Tunefork Studios by Anthony Sahyoun

This episode was made possible by the Goethe Institut Lebanon

Premiered on Radio Alhara on April 10, 2023

Poets and activists Dayna Ash & lisa luxx team up with Barakunan to talk agency and poetry. Recorded at Tunefork studios in Beirut, the two poets read from their work and share insights on strands of grassroots and intellectual motivations that spur their activism and art.

Writers Dayna Ash, lisa luxx

Composer Jad Atoui

Producers Sarah Huneidi, Barakunan

Host Dani Arbid

Recorded at Tunefork Studios by Anthony Sahyoun

This episode was made possible by the Goethe Institut Lebanon

Premiered on Radio al Hara on March 29, 2023

The inaugural episode of the Barakunan Podcast throws the spotlight on artist and writer Savyasachi Anju Prabir’s tender non-fiction piece, My Room as a Cosmopolis - Spacial and Temporal Third Spaces (within the confines of four walls). The piece is also available as audio and PDF chapbooks for you to download.

“The piece is a textual and visual exploration of identity and belonging rooted in India and growing beyond South Asia. The essay attempts to demystify concepts of post-coloniality through a reflexive and autoethnographic lens. The text works as a seamless interwoven body that traverses social and cultural scenarios by situating journal entries, culinary practice, film and arts practice within the academic framework. It begins with the intention of recreating a home lost in time and space, and then advances on questioning the very idea of it.”

Writer Savyaachi Anju Prabir

Composer Jad Atoui

Producers Sarah Huneidi, Barakunan

Host Dani Arbid

Guest Opening Address Reader Liam Oliver Stout

Guest Fiction Reader Angela Brussel

Episode Sound Edit Ideahat Productions

Episode Interview Edit Ideahat Productions

Graphic Design Ghiya Haidar