Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

With "The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree", Shokoofeh Azar has created a beautiful, sad fable set in a horrible reality. While there are moments of hope to be found in the past and in the realms of magic, they are fiercely trammelled underfoot by the cruelty and harsh realities of the world. Richard Marcus read the bookMore

In her novel "Immer mit Zucker" Pajand Soleymani creates a surreal world of cinematic images, intellectual discussion and dreamlike transformation. An unusual reading experience distantly reminiscent of the stories of "One Thousand and One Nights". Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Contemporary artist Mona Hatoum is one of those figures whose presence in western capitals stimulates much attention and critical writing, while her exhibitions in Arab cities like Amman or Doha don’t seem to generate more than a few lines in the culture and entertainment sections. Yazan Loujami explores why this is soMore

What do New York City poet and musician Patti Smith, the late French poet Arthur Rimbaud, composer Philip Glass, Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke and the Sufi Group of Sheikh Ibrahim have in common? After listening to the album "Mummer Love" from Soundwalk Collective, you may begin to find the connection. Review by Richard MarcusMore

In his new novel, award-winning author Sherko Fatah delves deep into the history of the 1970s Palestinian terror movement "Black September" – a thrilling tale of special agents which boasts no heroes or victors and is indisputably relevant to our times. By Volker KaminskiMore

One of the most relevant Malaysian artists of her generation, Yogyakarta-based Nadiah Bamadhaj uses sculpture, drawing, collage and video to challenge the restrictive societal norms in Southeast Asian countries and explore body politics. Interview by Naima MorelliMore

In his "West-Eastern Divan" published 200 years ago, Goethe promoted the idea of cultural proximity between Orient and Occident. The festival "A New Divan" in Berlin aimed at revisiting his idea. By Grzegorz SzymanowskiMore

The German term 'Heimat', of which the English equivalent 'home' is merely a pale imitation, has much to do with demarcation, with "us" and "them". At the Literaturk Festival in Essen, four authors talk about their lives as the "others" in Germany. By Sabine PeschelMore

"Morgen sind wir frei" – Tomorrow we'll be free – charts a love story under the baleful glare of a face painted on the side of a building in Tehran. It is a film about the hopes of a German-Iranian family during and after the revolution in Iran with all the pain of terror, oppression and separation. By Maryam AnsariMore