In the first half of the episode, we paid tribute to Jordanian poet, activist, novelist, travel writer, and editor Amjad Nasser (1955-2019), who died at the end of October. In the second, we talked about the political space occupied by Moroccan-French writers Tahar Ben Jelloun and Leïla Slimani, particularly in the wake of the trial against—and pardon of—Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni over an alleged abortion. What is a writer’s responsibility in a society, or between societies? And what about those of us who talk about, report on, and frame literature? (This episode partly recorded and produced in the offices of the Sowt network). 

SHOW NOTES

• A short English-language tribute to Amjad Nasser on ArabLit, and a longer one in Arabic on 7iber.

• Nassar’s recent poems are available on Facebookbutnot yet in translation.Other poems have been translated by Sinan Antoon and Fady Joudahand by the Poetry Translation Center. 

• The letter in Le Monde, co-composed by Slimani, « Nous, citoyennes et citoyens marocains, déclarons que nous sommes hors la loi,» and also the pieces about Slimani in The New Yorkerand LitHub. Since we aired the episode, another fawning profile of Slimanihas been published in Le Monde.

• Tahar Ben Jelloun, writing in Le Point: “Vous, obscurantistes, êtes en train de prendre le Maroc de la modernité en otage.”

• Also the criticism of both writers by Omar Brousky in Orient XXI.

• Ursula’s editorial in the New York Timesabout the Hajar Raissouni case.

• Ben Jelloun’s On Terrorism: Conversations with My Daughterwill be coming to English in February 2020.

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We discuss two novels set in Iraq -- one featuring a despondent policeman, and one featuring a determined grandma and her donkey. Also, how John Updike once dismissed the great Saudi writer Abdelrahman Mounif as "insufficiently Westernized" to write a novel.

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We talk about two festivals (one long-established, one brand new) that celebrate Palestinian literature; an author who was penalized for supporting BDS; and a book that asks the question: What would happen if Palestinians simply disappeared? (And once again we recorded this episode in the studio of the wonderful Sowt platform in Amman).

• Jayne Cortez’s poem “There It Is” was performed by Sapphire at Palfest 2014. 

•  Palfest was re-launched this year with a focus on knowledge production and an emphasis on how Palestine fits within larger struggles against imperialism, racism and economic exploitation. 

•  The first-of-its kind literary festival Palestine Writes will be held in New York in March 2020. 

•  Kamila Shamsie was de-awarded the Nellie Sachs literary prize over her support of the Palestinian BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) movement. Hundreds of writers signed a statement of solidarity with her. 

•  Benjamin Netanyahu promised further annexations in the West Bank during his last electoral campaign. The details of the Trump administration’s “deal of the century” have yet to emerge. 

•  As the New York Times reported recently, Israel bans Arabic-language books from entering the country.

• Ibtisem Azem’s The Book of Disappearance was translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon. 

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Ursula & MLQ open the new season of BULAQ -- recorded in Amman, under the auspices of the Sowt network -- with a focus on Egypt.

• This episode's reading is from Yasmine Zohdi's translation of Muhammad al-Haj's Sawiris-winning Nobody Mourns the City's Cats, available in the Summer 2019 issue of ArabLit Quarterly.

• Azzurra Meringolo Scarfoglio’s book of interviews with Egyptian exiles is Fuga dall’Egitto (“Escape from Egypt”).

• Ursula reviewed Peter Hessler’s The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution, in the New York Review of Books.

• More than 2,000 Egyptians have been detained in a massive sweep of arrests following a new series of protests across the country; among the detainees is Egyptian novelist Muhammad Aladdin, whose charming revolution story, "Season of Migration to Arkadia," is available in Humphrey Davies' translation.

• Marcia guest-edited the last issue of Words Without Border, focused on Arabic humor. 
  
  

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In our last episode before half our team moves and we take a summer break, we discuss a brilliant essay on the downsides of being a professional translator; the Shubbak literary festival; and our plans for the future.

We read from Lina Mounzer’s ”Trash Talk: On Translating Garbage,” which recently appeared on the Paris Review and struck a nerve among translators, editors, and various other word-jobbers. You can also another essay of Mounzer’s on life as a translator: “War in Translation: Giving Voice to the Women of Syria.”

The literary strand of the Shubbak Festival took place at the end of last June in London; there was some discussion online of the first panel on feminism. You can also get panelist and graphic novelist Deena Mohamed’s Shubeik Lubeik online.

During our summer hiatus, please take share Bulaq with a friend. Also, if you are so inclined, share your feedback with us on our Twitter handle @bulaqbooks: What was your favorite episode? What would you like to hear more of? Are there particular topics, essays, or books that you think would make for an interesting discussion on Bulaq? What else, if anything, would you like to tell us?

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We have novelist Ruqaya Izziddien as our guest in this episode, to discuss her debut novel The Watermelon Boys, her blog Muslim Impossible and the need for more narratives in English that accurately represent Arab voices and history. We also talk about George Orwell’s 1939 essay “Marrakech.”

• Our guest this episode was Ruqaya Izzidien, author of The Watermelon Boys, which was shortlisted for this year’s Betty Trask Prize. Ruqaya will also be appearing June 30 at the Shubbak Festival in London, on a panel with Inaam Kachachi and Rabai al-Madhoun, and possibly Hammour Ziada.

• Hanna Diyab is acknowledged -- in Antoine Galland's diary and is Diyab's own writings -- as the author of the "Aladdin" story commonly bundled in with the 1001 Nights. A French translation of Diyab’s travel narrative, D’Alep à Paris: Les pérégrinations d’un jeune syrien au temps de Louis XIV, appeared in 2015, edited and translated by Paule Fahmé-Thiéry, Bernard Heyberger, and Jérôme Lentin. An English translation, by Elias Muhanna and Johannes Stephan, is tentatively scheduled for Fall 2020.

• Dr. Debbie Reese and Dr. Jean Mendoza are the forces behind the invaluable American Indians in Children's Literature.

• You can read a transcript of the film Reel Bad Arabs, based on the classic book by Jack Shaheen.

• The Dzanc Books statement about Hesh Kestin's The Siege of Tel Aviv is available on the publisher's website.

• Izzidien is also the editor behind Muslim Impossible, a new website that “reviews fictional Muslim and Arab characters in film, TV and literature that are unbelievable, poorly-researched or prejudiced.”

• We disagreed about whether George Orwell’s “Marrakech” essay falls in that category. Here is a video and translation of part of the essay into Darija by a Moroccan YouTuber.

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We spend most of today’s episode talking about a forthcoming collection of essays by female journalists from the region. Guilt, anger, recklessness, determination. There are many different and movingly honest takes on reporting while Arab and female.

• Omani novelist Jokha al-Harthi and translator Marilyn Hacker won the 2019 Man Booker International with Celestial Bodies (Sayyidat al-Qamr). We talked about the book on Episode 29 and MLQ spoke to al-Harthi and Booth the morning after their win, and an edited Q&A was published on Qantara. Also: more on the Omani writers al-Harthi recommends you read.

•  Ursula’s piece about Sa’adallah Wannous, “Coup de Théâtre,” is in the NYRB. The great playwright’s daughter, Dima Wannous, is also an acclaimed novelist and will be appearing at this year’s Shubbak Festival. Her novel The Frightened is expected in 2020 in Elisabeth Jaquette’s English translation.

• Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World, ed. Zahra Hankir, will be published August 6, 2019, when an audiobook version, read by Soneela Nankani, will also be available. Among the many brilliant contributors is Lina Attallah, who both MLQ and Ursula have worked with variously at Al-Masry al-Youm, the Egypt Independent, and her current iconic, fearless, and relentlessly experimental project, Mada Masr.

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This week we talk about how MLQ’s latest passion project, the Arab Lit Quarterly, and the ups and downs of making a living (sort of) writing about books.

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MLQ is back from Abu Dhabi, and we talk about the recently awarded International Prize for Arabic Fiction — and an unfortunate controversy this year, involving leaks, no-shows, and calls for prosecution — and the book fair. We also share excerpts from the winning book and from several of the short-listed ones.

• The International Prize for Arabic Fiction announced the prize’s 2019 winner, Hoda Barakat’s The Night Post, on April 23. The name of the winner, and a few apparent details about the judging process, was leaked by former IPAF judge Abdo Wazen in Independent Arabia a few hours before the official announcement.

•  The prize’s official statement about the leak can be found on their website. Also notable are Arab Writers Union head Habib al-Sayegh’s comments about the leak, Hoda Barakat’s acceptance speech, and shortlisted writer Kafa Al-Zou’bi’s social-media habits.

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We talk about the career of the best-selling Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany – who like many other artists is on the outs with the country’s military regime now. Also, about Shakespeare productions and censorship in Gulf countries; and book reviews in the age of online algorithms and the culture of positivity.

• At the end of February, Youm7 reported that a lawyer submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor-General (No. 2697 of 2019) against Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany, in which he accused the author of The Yacoubian Building and The So-Called Republic of spreading false news, as well as cynicism and ridicule of the state’s leaders on social media. This story spread and, in mid-March, Mesreyoun reported that a lawyer had filed a complaint with the military prosecutor. It’s still unclear what’s happening; the NGO ANHRI has asked whether political “hesba” lawsuits can now be filed in military courts; there has not yet been an official answer. Thanks to TIMEP for assistance in sorting all this out. (Back in 2013, Al Aswany, like the vast majority of Egyptian artist and intellectuals, justified violence against members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supported their overthrow.)

• The actors Amr Waked and Khaled Abol Naga have been prosecuted and smeared recently for speaking out against Egyptian government repression.

• Ursula’s “heart-breaking” interview with Sonallah Ibrahim was published in Mada Masr in 2013.

• Palgrave Macmillan published Katharine Hennessey’s Shakespeare on the Arabian Peninsula in 2018.

• And in the last issue Harper’s Christian Lorentzen writes about the art of criticism in the age of algorithms, in “Like This or Die.”

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