Topic: Literature

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Algerian author Said Khatibi (image: private)

Algeria – wasteland for Arabic literature

Big Brother is watching you

In May 2023, Algerian author Said Khatibi won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Award in the young author category for his historical crime novel "Nihayat al-Sahra'" – in English, 'the End of the Sahara'. Claudia Mende caught up with Khatibi in Abu Dhabi for Qantara.deMore

English in Algerian schools and universities: What's the best language option for Algeria?Human rights in Algeria: Banned, intimidated, driven into exileRemembering Mohammed Dib: The grand seigneur of French-language Algerian literature
Students demonstrating in Frankfurt in 1969 (image: dpa/picture-alliance)

Migration in the 1960s

Adapting to Germany's fast-changing society

Nassir Djafari's second novel "Mahtab" tells the story of a migrant mother from Iran in 1960s Frankfurt. Not only does it describe how the protagonist adapts to an unfamiliar culture, but also reveals just how much Frankfurt itself was transformed during this period. By Hans DembowskiMore

Migration exhibition: How "guest workers" made Germany a country of immigrationIntegration in Germany: Finally growing upDaughters and Sons of Gastarbeiters writers′ collective: "When I go to Germany, I will buy a red tractor"
Author and political scientist Aref Hajjaj (image: DW)

The refugee's struggle for identity

Homeless with three homes

In "Heimatlos mit drei Heimaten" – literally, 'homeless with three homes' – the historian and political scientist Aref Hajjaj illustrates his personal experiences from a life led between Palestine, Switzerland and Germany. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Muslims in Europe: "For integration, read assimilation"Integration in Germany: Finally growing upBirthing a literature of refuge: A question of mutual interestQantara photo essay: The Palestinian Nakba of 1948
Palestinian Bedouin author Sheikha Helawy (image: the author's official website)

'They Fell Like Stars from the Sky'

Sheikha Helawy's joyous, rebellious passions

Their bodies might be displaced, torn away from homes and villages. Yet the memories of women and girls in Sheikha Helawy's short-story collection "They Fell Like Stars from the Sky" remain, haunting the spaces where they once lived. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the bookMore

Palestinian writer Asmaa al-Atawna: "No stereotypical views of Arab women"Israeli film ''Sharqiya'': Grappling with the plight of Israel's BedouinsRana Sweisʹ "Voices of Jordan": A realistic snapshot of Jordanian society
A protester holds a Syrian flag (image: dapd)

The last Syrian

Dreaming of freedom

In his debut novel – "Le dernier Syrien" – Syrian journalist and author Omar Youssef Souleimane looks back on the protest movement of 2011, a time when many in Syria hoped for societal change and democratic structures. Volker Kaminski read the German-language version of the book for Qantara.deMore

Beyond the hackneyed Syrian refugee trope: Engage with our work, not our biographiesSyrian literature in times of turmoil: An author on standbyThe Syrian poet Hala Mohammad: "They are stealing the soul from our revolution"
Imprisoned politician Selahattin Demirtas (image: HDP/Presse)

Selahattin Demirtas' "Cold Front"

Political prose from prison

Selahattin Demirtas, former co-chair of the Turkish opposition party HDP, has been in prison since 2016. He has published five books during this time. The short story collection "Cold Front" is the second to be published in German. Gerrit Wustmann reviews the book for Qantara.deMore

Ankara on the defensive: Pro-Kurdish faction in Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crosshairsThe Kemalist CHP and the Kurdish HDP: Decision time for Turkeyʹs opposition Turkey election run-off: Too much politics of fear from Kilicdaroglu?
Arabic Language Center booth at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair (image: ADIBF)

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair

"We're not looking for Western recognition"

The United Arab Emirates has made cultural dialogue its mission. At the 2023 Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the country confidently presented itself as the custodian of Arab culture. Although the book fair is a place for authors and publishing companies to meet and talk, there were limits to what could be openly discussed. Claudia Mende reports from Abu DhabiMore

Literary power politics: Spotlight on the UAE's 30th Abu Dhabi Book Fair Abu Dhabi Book Fair: Arabic literature, criticism and commerceQantara dossier: "Arabic literature"
Cover of Fawzi Boubia's "West-Oestlicher Divan" published by PalmArtPress (source: publisher)

Fawzi Boubia's "Mein West-Oestlicher Diwan"

A tale of disappointed love

German-Moroccan philosopher and writer Fawzi Boubia has long acted as a mediator between East and West, building cultural bridges in multiple publications. His strongly autobiographical novel "Mein West-Oestlicher Diwan" takes a merciless look at Germany's political and cultural trends, while celebrating its cultural and intellectual past. By Volker KaminskiMore

Islam for the 21st century? Look no further than GoetheGoethe anniversary: Orient and OccidentFuad Rifka: At home in German thought
Protests in Tel Aviv against the government's judicial reform (image: Corinna Kern/Reuters)

Israel writers protest

"They want control of our books"

Writers have barely been visible in the recent nationwide protests against the new Israeli government's reforms. Now, however, things have taken a dramatic turn. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Culture funding in Israel: Filmmakers fear censorship Israel's judicial reforms: Benjamin Netanyahu's autocratic turnViolence in Israel: Extremism is spreading
Pakistani-American author Mohsen Hamid (image: picture-alliance/dpa)

Mohsin Hamid's "The Last White Man"

The (familiar) stranger in the mirror

In his latest novel, award-winning Pakistani-British author Mohsin Hamid asks what would happen if a white man woke up one morning to find he was dark-skinned. A masterfully written Kafkaesque parable about everyday racism and discrimination. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Interview with Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid: "The markets have taken over the commons"Mohsin Hamid′s ″Exit West″: Through the black doorMohsin Hamid: The reluctant fundamentalist
Baghdad Reading Festival on the Tigris (image: Birgit Svensson)

Iraq's art and literature scene

Culture boom in Baghdad

Frustrated with their politicians, young Iraqis are turning their backs on politics and throwing themselves into cultural life. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Protests in Iraq: The streets speak for themselves!Reform in Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr must court the political eliteFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living
A cradle in the desert (image: Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Sabah Sanhouri's "Paradise"

The last resort

Sabah Sanhouri is a fresh, new literary voice from Sudan. Her novel "Paradise" revolves around an agency of the same name, an organisation that assists desperate people in ending their lives. By Volker KaminskiMore

Leila Aboulela's "Bird Summons": The arc of self-discoveryAbdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s "The Messiah of Darfur": A peacemaker in times of warTayeb Salih′s ″Season of Migration to the North″: A literary hall of mirrors
Protests in Frankfurt, Germany after the death of Mahsa Amini (image: dpa/picture-alliance)

Women's voices

Iranian literature in times of uprising

Young women are driving forward the protests against the Iranian regime, which have been going on for months. Literature provides clues as to why that should be, and why the current situation was unavoidable. By Gerrit WustmannMore

"Through the sad wood our corpses will hang": Flashback to a childhood in Tehran Iranian author Fariba Vafi: "Cliches have no place in writing"Iranian literature – the censor’s mindset
Mehmet Celebi in the cemevi attached to his house (photo: Rainer Hermann)

Turkish music

Fighting for freedom with the lute, not the sword

The poetry of Pir Sultan once prompted uprisings in the Ottoman Empire. To this day, Alevis identify with him. Rainer Hermann visited Mehmet Celebi, a direct descendant of the medieval bard, who lives in the house Pir Sultan built in a tiny mountain village in TurkeyMore

Turkish incursion into northern Syria: You reap what you sowChallenging Turkish history from the ground up: "The stories of our families"Photo gallery: The last years of the Ottoman Empire
Two Tuareg with veiled faces riding on camels (photo: picture-alliance/imageBroker/K. Kreder)

The Tuareg: literature, language and culture

"The journey of the princess"

The term "Tuareg" refers to tribes and nomads who speak dialects of Tuareg and live in Targa, an area in south-west Libya recently renamed Wadi Al-Hayat but previously known as Wadi Ajal. By Mustafa Abdullah Abdulrahman BashirMore

Album review: Imarhan's "Aboogi": Looking beyond the horizon Album review: Imarhanʹs "Temet" – Keeping it realTuareg fusion: Desert cats
Hawa, a third-year Russian literature student, reads a book as she sits on a windowsill at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan, 23 October 2021 (photo: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Hussein Mohammadi's novella "Scheherazade's heirs"

Keep writing! Literature from Afghanistan

The "Weiter Schreiben" (Keep Writing) project promotes literature from war-torn and crisis-stricken regions and has, most recently, shone its spotlight on Afghanistan. Afghan author Hussein Mohammadi's debut novella is an outstanding work that crosses frontiers. Gerrit Wustmann read the bookMore

Young Persian fiction: "Dort" – weird fiction fresh from IranInterview with Iranian-German author Siba Shakib: "The notion of home is bound up with loss"Book review: Raihana Raha's "My Mother's Tales" – Fairy tales depicting independent Afghan womenThe Afghan author Taqi Akhlaqi: The not-so-universal art of writing

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