Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Usama Al Shahmani fled Iraq in 2002 and has since become a wanderer between worlds. He taught himself German and now works as a translator and cultural mediator in Switzerland. In his novel, he describes how hiking helped him process the loss of his homeland. By Volker KaminskiMore

Part desert-island novel, part war story, part ‘Don Quixote’ and part folktale, the last novel by Kuwaiti writer Ismail Fahd Ismail (1940-2018) brings us the Iran-Iraq war through the eyes of a wise old fool. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

Musical freedom of expression is under fire, but artists like Iran's Farzane Zamen and Egypt's Ramy Essam refuse to be silenced. Cristina Burak has the detailsMore

In her latest novel, "The Book of Disappearance", Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem strikes a nerve with a fantastical tale that simultaneously fascinates and moves the reader, presenting the moral drift that can set in when people are confronted with the insoluble. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

In July 2019, with hate crimes against minorities in India rising sharply, 49 eminent personalities signed an open letter to Narendra Modi, stating that the slogan 'Jai Shri Ram' – Hail Lord Rama – a Hindu chant usually reserved for prayers or religious gatherings had become a war cry. By Amrita DasMore

In early 2015, Pakistani activist Sabeen Mahmud organised an event on missing Balochi activists in her cafe. Later that day, she was killed by two men on the streets of Karachi. The documentary film "After Sabeen" is a very personal portrait of the woman. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

With his digital art project Augmented Archive, the artist Kaya Behkalam has created a subversive archive that describes the history of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 from the perspective of the citizens. With the help of the app, users can visit the sites of the protests and learn about their history. Interview by Eslam AnwarMore

The Arabic-Hebrew Theatre in Jaffa is one of a kind – and a thorn in the side of the Israeli government. Alexandra Foerderl-Schmid visits a venue under constant threat of closureMore

Nathan Englander, an author of novels and short stories and a man who knows Israel very well, has written a fast-paced spy novel in which lovesick spies, dubious businesspeople and a virtually immortal general in a coma fail to bring about a workable solution for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. By Volker KaminskiMore