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Raba'i al-Madhoun
was born in Ashkilon, Gaza. He studied history at Alexandria University, Egypt, and in 1970 was deported to Jordan because of his political activities. He has lived in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Russia, Lebanon, Cyprus and is now in London, where he works as an editor of Al-Sharq al-Awsat daily newspaper.
He has also worked at the Palestinian Centre for Research Studies and as a journalist and editor for many newspapers and magazines, including Al-Horria, Al-Ufuq, Sawt al-Bilad, Al-Quds al-Arabi, Al-Hayat, WTN (an American TV news network), and APTN-Associated Press.
His works include a collection of short stories, Ablah Khan Younis (Idiot of Khan Younis, 1977), a memoir and two novels. Ta'am al-Furaaq (Taste of Separation, 2001) is an autobiographical work and is excerpted in Banipal 15/16. His first novel, The Lady from Tel Aviv, was translated in English by Elliot Colla and published by Telegram Books in 2010. The Arabic original was shortlisted for the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
His second novel, Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba (2015) has been shortlisted for the 2016 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
The novel looks at the Palestinian exodus from Israel in 1948 (known as the ‘nakba’), the holocaust and the Palestinian right to return. Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba is a novel of Palestine from outside and from within.
Contributor's Issues
Banipal 55 - Sudanese Literature Today (Spring 2016)
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's first audiobook* * *
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Banipal Book Club
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