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Banipal 74 - Celebrating Khalida Said and Modern Arabic Poetry (Summer 2022)
This issue explores the development of modernism in modern Arabic poetry. The illustrated main feature is on vanguard Syrian literary critic Khalida Said with an especially commissioned interview by Dima al-Choukr, and articles by Abdo Wazen, Fares Youakim, Dima al-Choukr, Fatima Al-Muhsin and Akl Awit on Said’s visionary, incisive and encyclopaedic works. Plus critical essays by Khalida Said herself – on the modernist Arabic poetry movement, a portrait of her sister the poet Saniya Salih, and on Gibran’s all-encompassing vision of creativity. Also, historic interviews with poets Sargon Boulus and Etel Adnan, first time translated into English, and . . . and . . .
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Banipal 73 - Fiction Past and Present (Spring 2022)
Banipal 73 – Fiction Past and Present is a delicious mix of pioneering, emerging and established authors from around the Arab world. With short stories by three pioneering writers – Emile Habiby, Fuad al-Takarli and Mohamed Choukri and works by established novelists Ezzat el-Kamhawi (The Travellers’ Room) and Emna Rmili (Beach of Souls). Also the first time in English translation for fiction writers Reem Al-Kamali, Mohammed Alnaas, Dima al-Choukr, Khalid Al-Nassrallah and Bushra Khalfan in our feature on the six shortlisted novels of the 2022 IPAF.
The front cover painting is by Iraqi painter Hanoos Hanoos.
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Banipal 72 - Iraqi Jewish Writers (Autumn-Winter 2021)
This unique feature on Iraqi Jewish writers includes short stories, excerpts from novels and poems by 17 authors, all of Iraqi descent. For several centuries, Iraqi Jews were key contributors to Iraq’s rich social and cultural tapestry – active in all areas of life as novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, musicians, composers, singers, and artists. Sadly, all this came to a tragic end with the massive transfer-emigration and forced displacement of Iraqi Jews in the 1950s to Israel. The texts and essays here raise universal questions of belongingness, exile, diaspora, cross-national affinities, and cross-linguistic possibilities – all were either translated directly from Arabic or Hebrew, with one written originally in English.
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Banipal 71 - Salutes Ihsan Abdel Kouddous (Summer 2021)
Banipal 71 commemorates two great Arab authors: the inimitable Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef, “the last communist, who passed away on 13 June, and the prolific Egyptian writer Ihsan Abdel Kouddous (1919–1990), whose stories and novels were adapted into dozens of films . . . “it would be no exaggeration to equate Abdel Kouddous’s daring and braveness with that of great writers from the West who challenged all forms of censorship imposed on subjects related to love and sexuality”.
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Banipal 70 - Mahmoud Shukair, Writing Jerusalem (Spring 2021)
Banipal 70 – Mahmoud Shukair, Writing Jerusalem is a rich issue of diverse authors and literary news to inspire and enthuse you in this continuing time of Covid-19.
The main feature on Palestinian author Mahmoud Shukair is a gift to the great Jerusalemite on his 80th birthday with articles, short stories, reviews of his works in English translation, and in particular his trilogy of novels of Jerusalem family life.
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Banipal 69 - 9 New Novels (Autumn/Winter 2020)
Banipal 69 – 9 New Novels opens with a salute to the devastated city of Beirut in texts by two of its major authors – poet Abdo Wazen with “Beirutshima” and Elias Khoury with “The City of Strangers”.
The main feature introduces nine new Arabic novels by authors from Tunisia, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, Algeria, Sudan, Qatar and Egypt with reviews and translated excerpts – Ezzedine Choukri Fishere (Egypt), whose novel Exit is due out next year translated by Jonathan Smolin, is interviewed by his translator.
Our front cover remembers the great Moroccan artist and activist Mohamed Melehi, who succumbed tragically to Covid-19. We hope that all our contributors and all subscribers can stay safe and well as we come to the end of an especially difficult year with Covid-19 still rampaging around the world.
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Banipal 68 - Short Stories (Summer 2020)
Banipal 68 – Short Stories introduces 21 diverse, engaging and thoughtful stories. From the Almultaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story, mostly for the first time in English, winner Sheikha Helawy and finalists Sofiene Rajab, Sherif Saleh and Mahmoud Al-Rahbi , plus three further great short story writers, Muhammad Khudayyir , Mustafa Taj Aldeen Almosa and Mohammed Al-Sharekh. Plus chapters from the novel Free Fall by Abeer Esber and A Small Death by Mohammed Hasan Alwan. Plus works by two major poets – Moncef Ouhaibi, who won of the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Award for Literature, and Abdo Wazen. Plus interview with Mohamed Berrada and an essay by Bothayna al-Essa on her writings. And a glimpse into a literary past in letters from Ghassan Kanafani to Denys Johnson-Davies. A HUGE THANKS to all our contributors who have continued working from home under coronavirus restrictions, and to our socially-distancing printer and distributor.
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Banipal 67 - Elias Khoury, The Novelist (Spring 2020)
Banipal 67 – Elias Khoury, The Novelist presents a major feature on the celebrated Lebanese and international author, with excerpts from his latest novel Stella Maris, the second in the Children of the Ghetto trilogy, and a chapter from his first novel (until now not translated), plus in-depth articles on the corpus of novels including translations of his works into Hebrew, and reviews of his early novels. We bid Adieu to poet Amjad Nasser in Fakhri Saleh’s essay on his poetry collections. We introduce two winners of the Moroccan Argana International Poetry Prize – Wadih Saadeh and Hawad.
Banipal 66 - Travels (Autumn/Winter 2019)
Banipal 66 – Travels presents works by five innovative travel writers: the Iraqi poet Farouk Yousif following Federico García Lorca’s footsteps in New York; Tunisian Hassouna Mosbahi who escapes to Andalusia; Algerian Said Khatibi in Sarajevo with his award-winning book The Inflamed Gardens of the East; Moroccan-Dutch Abdelkader Benali with an intriguing short story “To Tangier with Emmanuel”, and Syrian-Danish Monir Almajid who is a serious Japanophile. A second feature introduces Jordanian novelist Kafa Al-Zou‘bi who reveals Russian influences, while our Guest Writer series features British poet Linda France. Iraqi Yasmeen Hanoosh’s ‘remarkable’ experimental work, The Land of Accursed Bounties: the World of Iraqi Plants, opens the issue, followed by fiction from Lebanese Abbas Beydoun and Egyptian Ahmad Abdulatif and new poems from two excellent poets, Emirati Abdel Aziz Jassim and Palestinian Samer Abu Hawwash.
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Banipal 65 - The Beautiful Creatures of Fadhil Al-Azzawi (Summer 2019)
Banipal 65 – The Beautiful Creatures of Fadhil Al-Azzawi celebrates the iconic Iraq novelist and poet, renowned for his “conceptual leaps, rich references and linguistic surprises”, who has lived in exile in Germany since the early 1970s. Ariel Dorfman described him as “an Iraqi master poet who opens up all the despair and tenderness of our times”.
PLUS excellent fiction: “Lost in Mecca” by Kuwaiti author Bothayna Al-Essa; from war-stricken Yemen “Please Do Not Bomb” by Lutf al-Sarary and a chapter from Land of Happy Conspiracies, the latest novel of Wajdi al-Ahdal; from Morocco, Ahmed El-Madini with two short stories; and from Egypt, Ahmad al-Qarmalawi with a chapter from his Sheikh Zayed Book Award winning novel Summer Rains. And beautiful poetry by two Palestinian poets Samer Abu Hawwash and Fatena Alghorra.
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Banipal 64 - A Rebel named Hanan al-Shaykh (2019)
Banipal 64 – A Rebel named Hanan al-Shaykh features the Lebanese, now London-based author whose spirit of rebellion has stayed with her, enriching the Arab literary scene since her first works as a teenager in Beirut. The issue opens with poems by the late Lebanese poet Bassam Hajjar, widely read as “pioneering and inspirational” among young Arab poets. Plus Iraqi poet Adnan Mohsen with poems of “the ordinary, the familiar and the quotidian”.
Three fiction writers, from Syria, Morocco and Tunisia, explore their respective country’s dilemmas: Damascus-based Khalil Sweileh with “Remorse Test”, and two debut novels – Teatro Cervantes” by Nassima Raoui and “Lavazza” by Chafik Targui. And the six shortlisted novels of the 2019 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), considered the most important fiction award in the Arab world.
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Banipal 63 - The 100 Best Arabic Novels (2018)
Banipal 63 – The 100 Best Arabic Novels is a feast of literary fiction, poetry, essays, book reviews and paintings, with the first pages in the print edition now in full colour. With the huge increase in Arabic novel-writing we asked 100 Arab authors, critics, academics, and a few translators for nominations to find the 100 best. The 100 are listed with brief synopses and biographies of their authors, who include the new generation of writers such as Ahmed Saadawi, Ali Bader and Rabee Jaber.
Egyptian poet and artist Ahmed Morsi, whose impressive painting of “The Fish Eye” graces the front cover, is celebrated with vivid paintings and poems. The issue opens with a feature on the tragic life of Iraqi writer and academic Hayat Sharara, painfully redrawn through her posthumously published compelling novel “When the Days Grow Dark”.
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Banipal 62 - A Literary Journey through Arab Cinema (2018)
Banipal 62 – A Literary Journey through Arab Cinema is a special collaboration with London’s SAFAR film festival (13-18 September) and features articles and reviews on book and film pairs, including Horses of God, Men in the Sun, The Wedding of Zein, For Bread Alone and Gate of the Sun, plus presentations and an interview with Daoud Abdel Sayed, director of the famous Egyptian film Kit Kat, adapted from the novel The Heron. The issue opens with excerpts from novels: Memoirs in the Sun by Azouz Begag, Lutfiya al-Dulaimi’s Lovers, a Phonograph and Times, The Seer by Ahmad Ali El-Zein and After Coffee by Abdelrashid Mahmoudi. Liana Badr writes about her “Literary Influences”, how learning to read at a very early age opened up a “wonderland” that never closed.
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Banipal 61 - A Journey in Iraqi Fiction (2018)
Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have created a revolution in literature, writing nearly 600 novels. Banipal’s first issue of 2018 focuses on this unexpected journey in Iraqi fiction with articles and chapters from selected novels. The reader is taken deep into different periods of Iraq life over the last 50-odd years, from the beginnings of local communities struggling against the increasingly violent dictatorship where punishment was death, to the disintegration of Iraqi society on all levels after 2003 and on into the next decade. There is also an interesting modern take on well-known historical figures, and a tale of intriguing Friday nightlife in a southern Iraqi city. Plus two poets, from Morocco and Libya, and the 2018 Shortlisted novels of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, featuring authors from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Iraq.
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Banipal 60 - Alaa al-Deeb, A Writer Apart (Autumn/Winter 2017)
The magazine’s 20th year was completed with a major feature on the influential Egyptian author Alaa al-Deeb, with translations from a number of his pivotal works, and articles by six fellow Egyptian writers who knew him. The issue is opened, however, with chapters from Kitsch 2011, a novel by the Tunisian journalist Safi Said, who calls it himself “a mongrel text par excellence”, with poems from Widad Nabi from Syria and Lamia Makaddam from Tunisia, and a short story by Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin. In this issue, we are delighted to present the first translation in the magazine of work by Mauritanian author Abdallah Uld Mohamadi Bah. Plus colourful reports on events in Assilah, Morocco, and in Berlin and Frankfurt in Germany to celebrate our milestone of publishing.
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Banipal 59 - The Longlist (Summer 2017)
Banipal 59 – The Longlist is packed with fiction and features for summer reading, including chapters from eight new novels on the longlists of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction; Sudanese novelist Amir Tag Elsir writing on his Literary Influences in “I pawned my Rolex to publish my first book”; chapters from Goat Mountain, the forgotten 30-year-old debut novel of Tunisian author Habib Selmi; all there is to know about “Arabic Literature in Russia” in a fascinating, illustrated essay by Russian Arabist Viktoria Zorytovskaya. The Guest Literature spot is given over to the “incorruptible voice” of the great Spanish poet Angel Guinda, with introduction and poems translated by Peter Bush. Plus book reviews, event reports and a new Banipal Photo Album section.
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Banipal 58 - Arab Literary Awards (Spring 2017)
Banipal 58 – Arab Literary Awards starts our 20th year of publication with a timely title feature on Arab Literary Awards in which publishers, critics, authors, and literary journalists write about the impact of the increasing number of these awards on encouraging reading, on creative writing and on the literary scene. Also included in this Spring issue are excerpts from the six shortlisted novels of the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (its 10th year of awards) before its award on 25 April. An interview with Egyptian author Alaa Khaled from Alexandria opens the issue, along with a chapter from his autobiograpical first novel. Plus fiction by Nobel laureatre Naguib Mahfouz, Muhammad Khudayyir, Shahla Ujayli and Elias Farkouh; an essay by Ashur Etwebi on the ideas and works of cover artist Yahya al-Sheikh; and Literary Influences essay by Iraqi author Mahmoud Saeed.
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Banipal 57 - Syria in the Heart (Autumn/Winter 2016)
In the midst of the raging, destructive war that is shattering Syria, Banipal 57 – Syria in the Heart presents powerful new poetry and fiction by twelve Syrian authors – works that reach out to all with contemplation and compassion, with the need to tell the story and the search to understand. The authors are Nouri al-Jarrah, Rosa Yassin Hassan, Rasha Omran, Dima Wannous, Hala Mohammad, Maha Hassan and Khaled Khalifa, plus new in English translation Haitham Hussein, Monir Almajid, Fawaz Kaderi, Nada Menzalji and Mohamad Alaaedin Abdul Moula. Plus works by Palestinian author Liana Badr and Iraqi novelist Muhsin al-Ramli, and a 50-page guest feature on Literature from Flanders.
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Banipal 56 - Generation '56 (Summer 2016)
In the midst of utter turmoil, particularly in the Arab world and in Europe as ISIS/Daesh lashes out with its murderous, anarchic suicide bombs – a dinosaur in its death throes, teeth and tail thrashing randomly – leaving mourning, outrage and sorrow a daily experience, and as UK's disastrous Brexit referendum result begins to hit home, Banipal's mission is ever more to the point: to bring worlds together through literature, to initiate intercultural dialogue between the Arab world and other cultures, to make the world a better, more understanding and tolerant place. Banipal 56 – Generation ’56 features nine influential Arab voices, all born in 1956, all of whom grew up to become major beacons of modernity, intellectual freedom and creativity in the Arab world: Ziad Rahbani, Hassan Yaghi, Nouri Al-Jarrah, Khalid Al-Maaly, Saif al-Rahbi, Maia Tabet, Habib Abdulrab Sarori, Amin Zaoui and Samuel Shimon. Plus a continuation of the Sudanese literature file with authors including Tayeb Salih and Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, also works from poet filmmakers Ahmed Al-Mulla and Safaa Fathy and fiction writers Raouf Kobeissi and Rashad Abu Shawar.
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Banipal 55 - Sudanese Literature Today (Spring 2016)
Banipal starts our nineteenth year of publication with a sharp eye on the essential character of the contemporary Arab literary scene. In recent years Sudanese writers have been crowding onto the Arab literary scene. However, apart from the great Sudanese author Tayeb Saleh, well known for his classic novel Season of Migration to the North, there have been few translations into English. Banipal 55 showcases new waves of exciting writers, including Hammour Ziada, Ahmad Al Malik, Hamed El-Nazir, Emad Blake, Najlaa Osman Eltom, Mansour El Souwaim, Stella Gaitano, Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Rania Mamoun, Tarek Eltayeb, Abdel Ghani Karamallah, Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, Amir Tag Elsir, and more.
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Banipal 54 - ECHOES (Autumn/Winter 2015)
Banipal 54, the last issue of 2015, is a grand panoply of Arab literature in which history, memory and real life reverberate against each other and sing to each other new songs – by authors from Palestine, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and Libya. A feature on leading Iraqi playwright and director Jawad al-Assadi includes his play Baghdadi Bathhouse, and the Guest Literature section from the Berlin Festival on “The Future of Cities” features Roddy Doyle, Rawi Hage, Perihan Magden and Boualem Sansal.
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Banipal 53 - The Short Stories of Zakaria Tamer (2015)
With The Short Stories of Zakaria Tamer Banipal presents the most comprehensive feature it has ever published on a single author. The Syrian short story writer’s contribution to contemporary Arabic literature cannot be underestimated. In his language, his style, his topics and above all his satire and black humour, his writings refute every stereotype held about the Arab world in the west.
Translators of his works into German, Turkish, Serbian, Sardinian and English, fellow Arab authors and critics join us in saluting ZAKARIA TAMER, who through his inspiring and inimitable writings has pursued freedom of expression, human rights and liberty for almost 60 years, with 29 new translations of stories including 13 especially illustrated children’s stories, many articles on his works, reviews and a major interview.
Plus new novels by Iraqi authors Ali Bader and Shakir Noori and poems by Lebanese poets Charbel Dagher and Jawdat Fakhreddine.
This issue is OUT OF PRINT
Banipal 52 - New Fiction (2015)
This issue presents a range of new fiction works, all translated from Arabic, whose authors hail from Egypt, Yemen, Oman, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan and include excerpts from the 2015 shortlist of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. The book reviews include novels ranging from The Book of Khalid, by Ameen Rihani, first published in 1911, to Saud Alsanousi’s The Bamboo Stalk and Youssef Rakha’s The Crocodiles. The feature on “Prison Writing”, started in Banipal 50, continues with two new and powerful testimonies, and will remain open indefinitely for more contributions.
Banipal 51 - Celebrating Saadi Youssef (2014)
Banipal 51 celebrates the great Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef in his 80th year. In this feature, Banipal puts a spotlight on the life, works and huge influence on modern Arabic poetry of this renowned poet, presenting new poems in translation, essays and tributes in celebration of the extraordinary poetic achievements of Saadi Youssef (born 1934, Basra).
Banipal 51 continues the Guest Literature section with six very different fiction writers from the Netherlands. The issue also includes a chapter from then forthcoming novel in translation, The Book of the Sultan’s Seal of Egyptian author Youssef Rakha, and an excerpt from a novel by the Omani author Ghalya Al Said. Plus poems by that poetic wordsmith in French, the late Moroccan poet Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine, many book reviews and a photo report of Banipal's latest outreach events in Japan.
The front cover portrait of Saadi Youssef is by Iraqi artist Mansour Mansour
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Banipal 50 - Prison Writing (2014)
Banipal 50's feature on Prison Writing is timely and thought-provoking. We are proud that the 50th issue of Banipal is celebrated with thought-provoking testimonies and texts by some of the most renowned and respected of Arab authors from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Palestine and Syria, authors who have never stopped defending the right to free expression, tolerance and social justice. Their struggles continue today, and are ever more needed, ever more vindicated in this strange world we live in, where religious fundamentalists and bigots of all persuasions are in ascendance, dictatorships and unelected bureaucracies are still in control, and whistleblowers defending basic human rights are on the run.
Banipal’s work over the last 17 years has been to be witness to the living literary scene in the Arab world, commissioning translations of newly published works to bring to the Anglophone world the richness and variety ever present in today’s Arab literary landscape.
This massive work of 50 issues has been produced by a small, dedicated team, backed by a brilliant army of translators, consulting and contributing editors, reviewers . . . and of course, all the authors. We salute them all.
Cover painting by the New York based Iraqi painter Ahmed Alsoudani
Banipal 49 - A Cornucopia of Short Stories (2014)
"I thoroughly enjoyed Issue #49 - what a wonderful collection of stories you gathered, and the snippets of the IPAF shortlisted books were an additional treat." – Elisabeth Jaquette
A Cornucopia of Short Stories presents a rich collection of a traditional art – stories by 21 authors in a range of styles from all generations of short story writers – from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Jordan; from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia; and from Yemen, Oman and Kuwait. From pioneers Zakaria Tamer, Mahmoud Shukair, Ibrahim Aslan, Said al-Kafrawi and Ahmed Bouzfour, to relative newcomers Jokha al-Harth, Ahmed Saadawi, Huzama Habayeb, Basma El-Khatib, Ibrahim Farghali and Nasrin Trabulsi.
PLUS – A Travelling Tale from Moscow by Kamal Ayadi
• AND Poetry from Arabic, German & English: Kadhim Jihad Hassan from Iraq, Fouad El-Auwad from Syria and Mona Kareem from Kuwait
• AND 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction – Excerpts from the 6 shortlisted novels
• Guest Literature: British poet, editor and translator Stephen Watts
Cover painting by Iraqi painter Ahmed Alsoudani
Banipal 48 - Narrating Marrakech (2013)
Banipal 48 presents enthralling voices from Marrakech, city of narration, “kingdom of the improbable, one where reality is creatively rewritten”, as Juan Goytisolo describes the city in his introduction to Marrakech: Open Secrets, the first text of the feature. The poets and authors from Marrakech include Yassin Adnan and Saad Sarhan, the authors of Marrakech, Open Secrets, translated especially for this issue; the painter novelist Mahi Binebine, with his new novel The Lord will reward you; Abu Youssef Taha; Rajae Benchemsi; Mohamed Nedali with his debut novel Prime Cuts: An Apprentice Butcher’s Life & Loves; Anis Arafai and Taha Adnan. Banipal 48 also includes works by two Moroccan poets – Mubarak Wassat and Karima Nadir.
Plus Literary Influences by Mansoura Ez-Eldin and an excerpt from Ezzat El-Kamhawi's award-winning novel The House of the Wolf. Also, two Iraqi novelists – Duna Ghali, settled in Denmark and writing in Arabic, and Pius Alibek from Barcelona, writing in Catalan.
Front cover paintings by Farid Belkahia
Banipal 47 - Fiction from Kuwait (2013)
Fiction from Kuwait presents a selection of contemporary literature from the novels and short stories of 17 Kuwaiti authors. It spans the generations of literary voices, from the 1960s and the writings of Sulaiman al-Shatti, Ismail Fahd Ismail and Suleiman al-Khalifi, to works by Fatima Yousif al-Ali, Laila al-Othman, Waleed al-Rajeeb, Taleb Alrefai, Thuraya al-Baqsami and Fawziya Shuwaish al-Salem, and then to those of young authors Bothayna al-Essa, Saud al-Sanousi, Yousef Khalifa, Basima al-Enezi, Ali Hussain al-Felkawi, Hameady Hamood and Mona al-Shammari. Almost the entire issue is devoted to the vibrant fiction literary scene in Kuwait today, with background articles on the development of both the short story and the novel.
The book reviews include reviews of works by two winners of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Saudi Arabian author Abdo Khal’s winning novel Throwing Sparks, and The Mehlis Report by Lebanese novelist Rabee Jaber (his winning novel The Druze of Belgrade has yet to be translated).
Photo-reports of literary achievements complete the issue – the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards, the Abu Dhabi and Casablanca International Book Fairs, the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction award ceremony, and the Shubbak Festival of Contemporary Arab Culture in London.
Banipal 46 - 80 New Poems (2013)
Banipal 46 – 80 New Poems takes the pulse of new poetry with works by 14 poets who reflect the diversity and dynamism in Arab life and society today, most of the poets appearing in Banipal for the first time – Taha Adnan, Fadhil al-Azzawi, Salah Faik, Hussein Habasch, Musa Hawamdeh, Heind R. Ibrahim, Hassab al-Sheikh Ja’far, Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Khaled Mattawa, Philip Metres, Dunya Mikhail, Khaled Najar, Amjad Nasser and Mohamed al-Harthy.
The issue opens with the debut novel of Amjad Nasser, Land of No Rain, and is followed by an excerpt from the first English translation of Faris al-Shidyaq’s 1855 novel Leg over Leg – both texts being published in full later this year, by Bloomsbury Qater Foundation Publishing and New York University Press respectively.
Lorand Gaspar, who lived and worked in Jerusalem and Tunis for many years and is one of France’s most important contemporary poets, is the issue’s Guest Writer.
Banipal 46 also includes a special section of excerpts from the six shortlisted novels of the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction by Saud Alsanousi, Mohammed Hasan Alwan, Sinan Antoon, Jana Fawaz Elhassan, IBrahim Issa and Hussein al-Wad. PLUS a searing memoir, The Day the Olive Harvest was Stopped, by Palestinian writer Mohammad Khashan.
For full details of contents and links to contributors' pages, click here
Front cover painting by Mahi Binebine
Banipal 45 - Writers from Palestine (2012)
Banipal 45 – Writers from Palestine completes 15 years of continuous publication. Fadhil al-Azzawi writes of how Banipal is a “cultural necessity”, how it “reflects the real achievements in the contemporary literature of Arab authors”, and how it does more than publish literary translations – “In fact, it discovers new voices, highlights great forgotten talents, and presents those who have been marginalized for this or that reason”.
Adonis salutes the magazine’s 15 years, saying that “Banipal has been realizing a unique and twofold project within the sphere of cultural productions of the Arab world”.
Banipal 45 – Writers from Palestine is a doubly special issue, celebrating 15 years and new Palestinian literature. Introducing the feature's 23 authors, Anton Shammas writes of the “very special amalgam of young Palestinian voices, whose writing offers a new and refreshing literary map of that forsaken country, and whose almost unprecedented collective presence realizes a long over due literary dream” and opens up “the English gates for some new waves, some new and young and uncompromising voices from all regions of Palestine”.
Read more . . .
This issue is out of print.
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Banipal 44 - 12 Women Writers (2012)
Banipal 44 – 12 Women Writers is a feast of fiction for summer 2012. Huzama Habayeb (Palestine), Leila Aboulela (Sudan), Lina Hawyan al-Hassan and Maha Hassan (Syria), Hawra al-Nadawi (Iraq), Huda al-Jahouri (Oman(, Rachida el-Charni (Tunisia), Latifa Labsir and Hanane Derkaoui (Morocco), Fadhila el Farouk (Algeria), Renée Hayek (Lebanon) and Mansour Ez Eldin (Egypt) all write eloquently and forcefully on human issues such as loss, identity, personal awakening, family relations, migration, exile, being black in the Arab world, prejudice, dealing with prison and discrimination, travel and local customs.
Banipal 44 also features works by two Iraqi authors, novelist poet Fadhil al-Azzawi and author and journalist Hussain al-Mozany, also the Timbuktu-born novelist Omar al-Ansari and the talented young Saudi author Mohammed Hasan Alwan, while in Literary Influences, Habib Selmi tells the engrossing tale of how he became a writer in a house of no books.
Banipal 44 inaugurates a new Guest Writer occasional feature, the first being the American poet Marilyn Hacker who, in February 2012, was awarded the Argana International Poetry Prize by the House of Poetry in Morocco.
Banipal 43 - Celebrating Denys Johnson-Davies (2012)
Banipal 43 – Celebrating Denys Johnson-Davies
Guest Literature: KOREA
Banipal 43 salutes the doyen of Arabic-English translation, Denys Johnson-Davies. Since his first translation in the 1940s, he has introduced an impressive list of classics of contemporary Arabic literature, prose as well as poetry. His lifelong work has been instrumental in placing modern Arabic literature on the international scene. Fellow translators, authors and publishers write about the breadth and depth of his contribution to Arabic literary translation.
Banipal 43 brims with a cornucopia of fiction and poetry from across the Arab world, with fiction from Morocco (Hassan Najmi), Libya (Saleh Snoussi), Lebanon (.Jad El Hage) and Egypt (Nael El Toukhy), and poems by Saadi Youssef (Iraq), Maram al-Massri (Syria), and Youssef Rakha (Egypt). The issue opens with Kuwaiti poet Saadiah Mufarreh, followed by Tunisian author Khaled Najar, who embarks on a literary journey through Alexandria’s history. In an in-depth interview renowned Egyptian author Sonallah Ibrahim talks about his writing, his long career – and the future of Egypt.
With the winner of the 2012 International Prize for Arabic Fiction announced on 27 March, Banipal 43 publishes excerpts from each of the six shortlisted novels – a collaboration between Banipal and the Emirates Foundation.
Our Guest Literature in this issue is from Korea: four fiction writers and four poets bring readers some of the best of today’s Korean poetry and novellas over 111 pages (in print and at www.banipal.co.uk/selections), guest-edited by Kim Jaeyong.
Banipal 42 - New Writing from the Emirates (2011)
Banipal 42 focuses on the literature being written now the
United Arab Emirates. As readers begin
their journey into the works of 27 writers, three introductory essays open up
the background to the short story, the development of modern poetry and the
state of the novel in the UAE today. Among the stories that stand out are Abdul
Hamid Ahmed’s Kuya’s Little Things about an Indian worker’s struggle to provide
for his far-away family, the excerpt from Sara al-Jarwan’s novel Letters to my
Lord the Sultan, spelling out the complexities of life in a family of one man
with four wives and Adel Khozam’s reflections, Music, in stanzas echoing the musical
scale.
It proved impossible to keep the feature within its
designated limits and so, instead of pulling some works
out we decided to continue them online – and miss nothing. Go to Selections to read the rest of the feature.
Banipal’s Guest Literature feature this issue comes from
Germany: eight great authors at the top of their fields. And this issue sees the return to the popular feature
Literary Influences. Prize-winning Saudi Arabian author Raja Alem recounts her
passion for reading as a child and the world authors she read.
Banipal 41 - Celebrating Adonis (2011)
Banipal 41 opens with poems from the best-known Libyan poet Ashur Etwebi, and continues with fiction from four talented authors from, Lebanon, Iraq and Sudan. There is a feature on Arabic Writers in Sweden, from authors from Syria and Iraq who have settled there over the last two decades. The special feature Celebrating Adonis marks the poet's eightieth birthday last year and includes a translation of his latest poem with testimonies from V.S.Naipaul, Joachim Sartorius, Roger Allen, Yang Lian, and more.
This issue takes an important step forward in developing intercultural dialogue by introducing a new regular feature of a Guest Literature. Banipal presents readers with our first guest – contemporary Slovenian literature – with thanks
to the EMUNI Foundation and the EMUNI University of Slovenia. Plus book reviews, photo report of Ramsey Nasr's enthralling reading and conversation at the World Literature Weekend on 18 June, and another new feature Last Page.
Banipal 40 - Libyan Fiction (2011)
Banipal publishes its fortieth issue in Spring 2011, showcasing Libyan literature at the very moment of uprising and change in the Arab world, especially in Libya.
With 135 pages of terrific reading from both Libya’s foremost and emerging fiction writers – introduced by Omar Abulqasim Alkikli on The Libyan Short Story and Ibrahim Ahmidan on The Libyan Novel – the feature presents a wide range of works by 17 authors from inside and outside Libya, as well as a profile of the pioneer literary figure Ali Mustafa al-Musrati.
Banipal 40 also includes works by award-winnning authors from Morocco, Oman and Lebanon, respectively Abdelkarim Jouiti, Jokha al-Harthi, Abdo Wazen, plus an in-depth interview with Lebanese novelist Alawiya Sobh.
Banipal 39 - Modern Tunisian Literature (2010)
• Banipal 39 – Modern Tunisian Literature features over 150 pages of poetry and fiction by Tunisian authors, plus an introduction to the country’s literary pioneers with profiles, and book reviews
• Banipal 39 – Modern Tunisian Literature includes newly translated works of the foremost poet in the Arab world, Adonis. Also fiction from Fadhil al-Azzawi and Mekkawi Said, and poetry by Omar Sabbagh
PLUS
Tribute to the late Taher Wattar 1936-2010
and to critic Farouk Abdel-Kader 1938-2010
PLUS Book Reviews: Albert Cossery – The Jokers, Habib Selmi – The Scents of Marie-Claire, Mahmoud Darwish – Journal of an Ordinary Grief, Inaam Kachachi – The American Granddaughter, Hédi Kaddour – Treason, Mohamed Mansi Qandil – Moon over Samarqand and Hayan Charara’s Arab American poetry anthology, Inclined to Speak
Banipal 38 - Arab American Authors (2010)
Banipal 38 presents over 150 pages of works by North American authors of Arab origin – voices for the 21st century, putting their stamp on multi-heritage, embracing head-on apparent cultural conundrums, voices both irreverent and responsible, deconstructing and satirising the ironies of prejudice.
Banipal 38 also celebrates the flourishing modernist poetry movement in the United Arab Emirates, with works by four of the most important voices on the UAE poetry scene, Ahmed Rashid Thani, Nujoom Al-Ghanem, Khalid Albudoor and Khulood Al Mu’alla, the latter three visiting the UK in July for the first-ever Emirati poetry readings at the Ledbury Poetry Festival and at the London Literature Festival.
PLUS two of the most talented young Arab authors today:
• Youssef Rakha from Cairo takes readers on a trip to the Rafah border with Gaza
• Hassan Abdulrazzak, author of the successful play Baghdad Wedding, with a hilariously intriguing monologue about the Israeli Wall.
PLUS 27 pages of
book reviews and a six-page photo-report of the recent RAWI conference
Read more . . .
Banipal 37 - IRAQI AUTHORS (2010)
IRAQI AUTHORS: Banipal’s first issue of 2010 celebrates authors from Iraq with over half its 224 pages devoted to fiction and poetry by writers from different generations, some spread across the world, but many writing from within the country. We celebrate, in particular, a new generation who are free to write the story of Iraq we’ve been waiting to hear, however hard. Banipal is indebted to all the translators and copy-editors who made the issue possible.
• Nazum al-Obeidi • Nassif Falak • Hussain al-Mozany • Lutfiya al-Dulaimi • Luay Hamza Abbas • Diya al-Jubaily • literary pioneer, the late Mahdi Issa al-Saqr • PLUS works by eleven poets . . .
PLUS • the powerful fiction of Yemeni author Ali Mohammed Zayd, Egyptian novelists Mohamed al-Bisatie and Ezzat el-Kamhawi • also Flemish author Rachida Lamrabet Epic • and an epic poem by Algerian poet Habib Tengour
Banipal 36 - Literature in Yemen Today (2009)
Banipal 36 – Literature in Yemen today presents a rich selection of novel
excerpts,
short stories and poetry from 17 of today’s Yemeni authors, most of
whose work has never before been translated into English.
Many are well-known in Yemen and the Arab world, and some are now
regularly invited to European festivals; they include: Huda Ablan, who
is currently the secretary-general of the Union of Yemeni writers, the
controversial Ali al-Muqri, whose first novel Taste Black . . . Smell
Black (excerpted) was published in 2008 to high acclaim, Wajdi
al-Ahdal, the winner of numerous Yemeni literary prizes, also, the poet
and literary critic
Abdel Aziz al-Maqalih, whose modernist voice and
pioneering efforts have made the cultural movements in Yemen what they
are today.
Also included in the issue are Nadia Alkowkobani, Shawqi Shafiq,
Bassam Shamseldin, Habib Abdulrab Sarori, Samir Albufattah, Yasser
Abdel Baqi, Ahmad Zein, Fathi Abul Nasr, Mohammad al-Shaibani, Mohammad
al-Qaood, Sawsan al-Areeqi and Nabila al-Zubair.
PLUS more . . .
Banipal 35 - Writing in Dutch (2009)
Writing in Dutch presents ten talented authors who live in the Netherlands and Belgium and write in Dutch, and whose origins are in Morocco, Palestine and Iraq. All ten, explains our guest editor Victor Schiferli in his introduction, are making important contributions, their "new and energetic voices" having enriched and broken "the mould of Dutch literature, taking up themes that had never before been explored". The authors include Ramsey Nasr, the new Poet Laureate of The Netherlands.
Banipal 34 - The World of Arab Fiction (2009)
Cover: Photograph taken by Samuel Shimon
The theme of the first issue this year is The World of Arab Fiction, presenting fiction from Egypt and Iraq, from Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Palestine and Syria, and from Saudi Arabia, in pages redesigned and resized in book format...(read more)
Banipal 33 - Autumn/Winter 2008
Cover photograph of Mahmoud Darwish by Arts Alliance Productions
This issue opens with a major 70-page feature on the life and legacy of Mahmoud Darwish. It includes articles, tributes, poems and many photographs of the great Palestinian and world poet, who passed away on Saturday 9 August following complications after major heart surgery in Houston, Texas, at the age of 67...(read more)
Banipal 32 - Summer 2008
Cover Artist: Zena Assi
Banipal 32, Summer 2008, introduces a number of new voices for the first time in English. There is the young Egyptian author, Mohamed Salah al-Azab, who is 27 with already several literary awards to his name. The excerpt from his novel [Repeated Stopping] is an urban story of a young man not in control of his life, who easily falls for an older attractive woman, but must be with his father on his death-bed from lung cancer...(Read more)
Banipal 31 - Spring 2008
Cover artist: Mehdi Qotbi
This issue pays tribute to publisher Suhail Idriss, founder of Al-Adab publishing house, and to pioneer Iraqi author Fuad al-Takarli. A new departure for Banipal is a dialogue from The Visitor, an enthralling, and fast-moving playscript by Lebanese poet, translator and author Paul Chaoul...(read more)
Banipal 30 - Autumn/Winter 2007
Banipal 30 – Celebrating Ten Years
Cover artist: Jaber Alwan
Banipal celebrates ten years of publishing – of translating and showcasing hundreds of authors who have never had their works published in English before, presenting newly emerging writers as well as those well-established in the Arab world and beyond ones...(read more)
Banipal 29 - Summer 2007
Cover artist: Ahmed Moualla
Banipal 29 is packed with Summer reading, excerpts of novels, features and photo-reports. We pay tribute to the late Iraqi poet Nazik al-Malaika who revolutionised modern Arabic poetry, and to Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi. The issue opens with an excerpt from Hassan Daoud’s novel Year of the Revolutionary New Bread-Making Machine, due out in October, his second in English translation...(read more)
Banipal 28 - Spring 2007
Cover artist: Adel El Siwi
Every issue now we seem to be saying farewell to a well-known Arab literary figure. We open sadly with a tribute to Mai Ghoussoub, the London-based Lebanese co-founder of Saqi Books, writer and artist, who died so suddenly in February. We dedicate our major feature on Lebanese poetry to her memory...(Read more)
Banipal 27 - Autumn/Winter 2006
Cover artist: Nabil Abu Hamad
Farewell, Naguib Mahfouz! The issue opens with tributes to the “writer of the world”, the late Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, by Banipal’s editor and contributing editors Roger Allen and Peter Clark. Further on in the issue, the well-known Iraqi author Jalil al-Qaisi is remembered by Fadhil al-Azzawi...(read more)
Banipal 26 - Summer 2006
Cover artist: Sattar Kawoosh
This issue was designed especialy for Summer reading and includes much thought-provoking and captivating fiction. There's a short story by Jamal Mahjoub, an excerpt “Earthquake Nightmare” from a novel by Tunisian author Hassan Nasr which,...(read more)
Banipal 25 - Spring 2006
Cover artist: Mai Refky
100-page feature of works by Egypt's new generation of cosmopolitan young writers who use their pens to debunk the heroic self, the totalitarian idea of the nation and the single voice...(read more)
Banipal 24 - Autumn 2005
Cover artist: Mohamed Melehi
Includes excerpts from novels by Hanan al-Shaykh and Vénus Khoury-Ghata plus an extract from The World of Saddam Hussein and from Samar Yazbek. There are short stories by Ahmed Bouzfour, the late Samir Naqqash, and Ali al-Kasimi, and others by Huzamah Habayeb, Haifa Bitar, Jamila Omairah, Aroussia Naluti and Salwa al-Neimi...(read more)
Banipal 23 - Summer 2005
Cover artist: Dima Hajjar
Opening authors are Palestinians Ala Hlehel and Mahmoud Darwish. There are two major features – on Omani poet Saif al-Rahbi and on the late Syrian poet Saniya Salih. Two powerful figures from North Africa, both writing in French, are Abdellatif Laâbi from Morocco and Abdelwahab Meddeb from Tunisia...(read more)
Banipal 22 - Spring 2005
Cover artist: Sadradeen
Includes excerpts from novels by Najwa Barakat, Ali al-Domaini, Baha Eddine Taoud and Aziz Chouaki, poems by established poets Abbas Beydhoun, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Salah Hassan, Nazih Abu Afash, Inaya Jaber and Rasha Omran and from Palestinian-Americans writing in English Lisa Suher Majaj and Fady Joudeh...(read more)
Banipal 21 - Autumn 2004
Cover artist: Azzawi
c. Fiction of Gamal el-Ghitani, Mahmood Abdel Wahab, Jalil al-Qaisi and others. LITERARY INFLUENCES file is by Lebanese poet Abbas Beydhoun – The Stranger, The Outsider and the Foreigner
Banipal 20 - Summer 2004
Cover artist: Feryel
Includes a 13-page interview with poet Saadi Youssef, a 57-page feature on the novel in Saudi Arabia with eight authors, including Abdul Khal, Turki al-Hamad and Ghazi Algosaibi (profile). Plus fiction from Mahmoud Shukair and four other authors. Poetry from Mohammed Al-Harthi and two others...(read more)
Banipal 19 - Spring 2004
Cover artist: Youssef Abdelké
New size 245 x 170mm - 160 pages illustrated. Tributes to the late Abdelrahman Munif and Mohamed Choukri. Part 3 of series (49 pages) on Iraqi literature with 11 authors. Profile and poems of Mohammed Bennis. And other works by 7 poets and 6 fiction-writers. New series on LITERARY INFLUENCES: Hassouna Mosbahi writes on James Joyce in Tunisia.
Banipal 18 - Autumn 2003
Cover artist: Kareem Risan
Includes Farewells to Edward Said and Wilfred Thesiger. Part Two of series (47 pages) on Iraqi literature with 22 authors. 11-page feature on novelist Habib Selmi. Poems by Khaled Mattawa, Nouri al-Jarrah and four others. Profile of novelist Hassan Nasr by Hartmut Fähndrich
Banipal 17 - Summer 2003
Cover artist: Kadhim al-Khalifa
Includes Part One of 3-part series on contemporary Iraqi authors with 27 authors (50-pages); 12-page feature on author Rabee Jaber. Plus work by novelist Alawiyya Subuh, introduced by Nirvana Tanoukhi. Profile of poet Qassim Haddad.
This issue is out of print. There is a complete digital archive of all Banipal issues 1-75. The way to read this issue is to make sure your library or institution has a digital subscription to the complete archive. For all details of the digital institutional subscription click here. Thank you.
Banipal 15 - /16 – Autumn 2002/Spring 2003
Cover Artists: Vladimir Tamari, Samira Badran
Special 131-page feature on contemporary Palestinian literature with 54 authors – poems, fiction, reviews, profiles. PLUS Poems from Abd al-Aziz al-Maqalih, Saadi Youssef and others.
Banipal 14 - Summer 2002
Cover artist: Faisal Laibi Sahi
Banipal 14 includes a 27-page feature on Iraqi fiction with 6 authors, including Mohammad Khodayyi, Mahdi Issa al-Saqr and Fuad al-Takarli. Also a 17-page feature, with interview, on Syrian Kurdish novelist-poet Salim Barakat. Plus fiction from five other authors including Rafik Schami and Miral al-Tahawy, and poems by Paul Chaoul.
This issue is out of print. As we now have a full digital archive of all Banipal issues, the way to read this one is to get a digital subscription with access to the full archive. We do not yet have availability of single digital issues. For all details of the digital subscription click here.
Banipal 13 - Spring 2002
Includes special 56-page feature on contemporary Jordanian literature as Amman celebrates being the UNESCO Arab Capital of Culture in 2002, with 33 authors. PLUS 12-page feature, with interview, on the renowned Egyptian novelist Gamal el-Ghitani. Plus works of poets Mohammad al-Maghut and Abbas Beydhoun, fiction-writer Yasmine Khlat, and poet-author Abdul Kader el-Janabi.
This issue is out of print. As we now have a full digital archive of all Banipal issues, the way to read this one is to get a digital subscription with access to the full archive. We do not yet have availability of single digital issues. For all details of the digital subscription click here.
Banipal 12 - Autumn 2001
Cover artist: Saad Ali
A4 – 80 pages illustrated. Interview with novelist and critic Elias
Khoury. Tribute to Mohammed Zefzaf (1945-2001) and works. Works by poets Sargon Boulus, Saadi Youssef, Mohammed Bennis, Fadhil al-Azzawi, Inaya Jaber, Ghassan Zaqtan, Kadhim Jihad, Mouayed al-Rawi and Mohja Kahf. Works by Bensalim Himmich, Rashad Abu Shawar, Samuel Shimon, Mohammed Mustagab and Issa J Boullata. Plus Book Reviews and Events.
This issue is out of print. As we now have a full digital archive of all Banipal issues, the way to read this one is to get a digital subscritpion with access to the full archive. We do not yet have availabllity of single digital issues. For all details of the digital subscription click here.
Banipal 10 - /11, Spring 2001/Summer 2001
Cover artist: Patricia Millns
22-page feature, with appreciations and profiles on Moroccan poet Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine. Interviews with author Tayeb Salih and poet Abbas Beydhoun. Poems by Adonis, Etel Adnan and 11 others. Works by Abduallah Laroui, introduced by Kamal Abdellatif, and novelist Halim Barakat introduced by Bassam Frangieh.
Banipal 9 - Autumn 2000
Cover artist: Mahi Binebine
A4 – 80 pages illustrated. Feature on one of Morocco’s best-known short story writer Mohammed Zefzaf, with introduction by Saadi Youssef. An annual fiction prize in his honour is awarded by the Assilah Festival. Interview with pioneer literary translator Denys Johnson-Davies. Lebanese fiction author Hoda Barakat is introduced by Anton Shammas. Plus works by Hani al-Raheb, introduced by Bassam Frangieh, and works by Said al-Kafrawi, introduced by Ferial Ghazoul. Also works by 7 poets and 8 fiction-writers, plus essay by critic and journalist Mohammad Ali Farhat.
Banipal 8 - Summer 2000
Cover artist: Afifa Aleiby
22-page feature on novelist, poet and essayist Tahar Ben Jelloun from Morocco. Feature on works by Ten Iraqi Poets. Works by 6 poets and 10 fiction writers including appreciations. Article by Mahmoud Darwish on Translating Poetry.
Banipal 7 - Spring 2000
Cover artist: Rachid Koraichi
A4 – 88 pages. Feature on poet Saadi YousseF. Feature on contemporary Algerian literature (44-pages) introduced by Algerian author Wacini Laradg. Testimony and Short Stories by Mahmoud Shukair. Works by 7 other poets and works by 5 fiction-writers. Tribute to the late Syrian novelist Hani al-Raheb.
Banipal 6 - Autumn 1999
Cover artist: Kamal Boullata
A4 – 88 pages illustrated
Feature on Jordanian novelist Ghalib Halasa. Interviews with Edward al-Kharrat and Rachid al-Daif. Poems by Fadhil al-Azzawi and 7 other poets. Fiction by Zakariyya Tamer, Salim Barakat and 7 other authors. Plus Tribute to the late Abdul Wahab al-Bayati.
Banipal 5 - Summer 1999
Cover artist: Kacimi
A4 – 96 pages illustrated. Major 41-page feature on contemporary Moroccan literature with 20 authors, including interview with Mohamed Choukri. PLUS poems by Ounsi el Hage, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, Nizar Qabbani, Sargon Boulus and four other poets. Works by 5 fiction-writers. interview with Ghazi Algosaibi.
Banipal 4 - Spring 1999
Cover artist: Marwan
A4 – 96 pages illustrated. Includes feature on poet Mahmoud Darwish with poems, interviews and appreciations, interviews with and works of novelists Albert Cossery and Yusef Habshi al-Ashqar. Interview with novelist-playwright Ahmed al-Fagih. Plus works by 11 poets, six fiction-writers and articles on the Arabic Novel.
We have discovered a few copies of this issue, so we have restored the PayPal purchasing button.
Banipal 3 - October 1998
Cover artist: Azzawi
A4 – 80 pages illustrated. Interviews with novelist Abdelrahman Munif, film-maker Costa Gavras and poet Amjad Nasser, plus works by poet-novelist Anton Shammas and 11 other poets, 10 fiction writers, plus reviews.
Banipal 2 - June 1998
Cover artist: Ali Fenjan
A4 – 80 pages illustrated. Interviews with poet Adonis and poet-painter Etel Adnan. Works by Saadi Youssef and 8 other poets, 9 fiction writers, a tribute to the late Nizar Qabbani, reports on the Quartet and Garnet publishing houses, and on Iraqi exile writing. Front cover painting created especially for Banipal by Ali Fenjan.
Banipal 1 - February 1998
Cover artist: Youssef Abdelké
A4 – 80 pages illustrated. Banipal's first issue includes major interview with Iraqi poet Sargon Boulus, plus works by renowned poet Adonis and 11 other poets, 9 fiction writers. Reports on Al-Kamel and Al-Saqi publishing houses, and a tribute to the late Syrian playwright Sa’adallah Wannus. Front cover painting created especially for the magazine launch by Youssef Abdelké.
We have discovered a few copies of No1, so now it is not out of print.
The Tent Generations
Things I Left Behind by Shada Mustafa, translated by Nancy Roberts
Shadow of the Sun by Taleb Alrefai
Birds of Nabaa, A Mauritanian Tale by Abdallah Uld Mohamadi Bah
The Stone Serpent, Barates of Palmyra’s Elegy for Regina his Beloved by Nouri Al-Jarrah
Mansi A Rare Man in His Own Way by Tayeb Saleh (Banipal Books, 2020)
Tayeb Salih
Goat Mountain by Habib Selmi
Habib Selmi, author of Goat Mountain and 3 times shortlisted for the IPAF
The Mariner by Taleb Alrefai (Banipal Books, 2020)
Taleb Alrefai, author of Shadow of the Sun and The Mariner
Digital images
Fadhil Al-Azzawi's Beautiful Creatures by Fadhil al-Azzawi (Banipal Books, 2021)
Fadhil al-Azzawi
Poems of Alexandria and New York by Ahmed Morsi (Banipal Books, 2021)
Digital Banipal promotion B67
Saïd Khatibi
Amjad Nasser (1955–2019)
Digital Banipal the full archive
Denys Johnson-Davies (1922–2017) 70 years translating Arabic literature
Ahmed Morsi, author of Poems of Alexandria and New York
Sarajevo Firewood
The Madness of Despair
Mahmoud Shukair – see special feature of Banipal 70 (Spring 2021)
LATEST NEWS
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Link to poems by Mosab Abu Toha, published in Banipal 71 (Summer 2021), available to read online
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Link to poem by Liana Badr published in Banipal 74, now available as an online selection
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GRIFFIN PRIZE SHORTLIST 2023
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Banipal Book Club
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