German-Arab Literature Exchange
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The German Iraqi Writer Abbas Khider
Writing More Beautifully than God
Abbas Khider came to Germany as a refugee with no knowledge of the country's language. Now the man from Baghdad is listed by Germany's leading literary critics as one of the best writers of the moment. Lewis Gropp met the writer in Cologne
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Interview with Sayed Kashua
For Absolute Equality in All Areas of Life
In his novels Sayed Kashua, a very famous author in Israel, talks about the lives of the country's Arab citizens. Nader Alsarras spoke to him about his new novel that deals with the co-existence of different nationalities and religions in Israel
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German Peace Prize for Boualem Sansal
A Good, Cowardly Choice
Awarding Boualem Sansal with the German Peace Prize is in fact not as courageous as it seems, writes Stefan Weidner: the Algerian author is one of those critics of Arab-Islamic conditions who make it easy for us to follow him, Weidner says
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Obituary for Fuad Rifka
The Advocate of Lyrical Attentiveness
The renowned Lebanese poet Fuad Rifka died last Saturday at the age of 80. Alongside Adonis and Mahmud Darwish he was one of the great revivers of Arabic poetry, yet among those of his own generation he remained unique until the end. An obituary by Stefan Weidner
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Rethinking World Literature
The Arabic Novel in Non-Western Eyes
Anthologies of "world literature" have often used the term to market a largely Western canon. But isn't western literature still implicitly regarded as the measure of all things? And are we not overlooking other literary values out of sheer ignorance? By Fakhri Saleh
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Tahar Ben Jelloun: ''The Arab Spring''
The Comfortable Way to Take Part in a Revolution
The Paris-based Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun regards himself as a spokesman for the Arab revolution. His latest book, however, shows him to be just a last minute arrival to the cause, writes Niklas Bender in his book review
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Stefan Weidner's "Fez"
Meandering Reflections
Following the success of his "Mohammedan Temptations," prominent translator and publisher of Arab literature Stefan Weidner has now brought out a second prose volume with a literary account of a trip to Morocco. A review by Lewis Gropp