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Habib Selmi
was born in al-’Ala, Tunisia, in 1951. He has published eight novels in Arabic, with four French editions by Actes Sud, and two in German translation. His novel The Scents of Marie-Claire was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2008-2009 and published in English translation by Arabia Books in 2010.
He has two collections of short stories, with a number of stories translated and published in English, Norwegian, Hebrew and French in several international anthologies.
His novels include Jabal al-’Anz (Goat Mountain), Ushaq Bayya (Bayya's Lovers) which was excerpted in Banipal 18 along with an in-depth interview, Surat Badawi Mayyit (Picture of a Dead Bedouin), 1990, Matahat al-Raml (Sand Labyrinth), 1994, Hufar Dafi’a (Warm Pits), 1999 and Asrar Abdallah (Abdallah’s Secrets), 2004.
Habib Selmi has lived in Paris since 1985.
His latest novel Nissa'u al-Bassateen (The Women of Al-Bassatin), published by Dar al-Adab, Beirut 2011, was shortlisted for the 2012 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
Contributor's Issues
Banipal 30 - Autumn/Winter 2007
Banipal 59 - The Longlist (Summer 2017)
Banipal 39 - Modern Tunisian Literature (2010)
Banipal 34 - The World of Arab Fiction (2009)
Banipal 44 - 12 Women Writers (2012)
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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