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Ibrahim Aslan (1936-2012)
Ibrahim Aslan was born in Cairo in 1936. He became one of Egypt's leading novelists and short story writers. His first short story was published in 1963 and his first collection, Buhayrat al-Masah [The Evening Lake], in 1972. His second collection, Youssef wal-Rida’ [Joseph and the Clothes], was published in 1987. He went on to author three novels and two collections of essays as well as editing Al-Hayat's Horizons cultural section, and writing a weekly column for Al-Ahram.
His first novel (Malik al-Hazin, 1983), translated as The Heron (2005) by Elliott Colla, was voted as one of the 100 best Arabic books of the 20th century, and adapted into the film Kit Kat. Ibrahim Aslan will be much missed.
Two of his novels, The Heron (Malik al-Hazin) and Nile Sparrows (1999) were reviewed in Banipal 27, which also detailed some of his life experiences that undoubtedly made him "the distinguished writer he is".
Click here to read the review.
His third novel, Two-Bedroom Apartment, was just published in 2009.
Banipal 2, June 1998, published Training, section 2 of his novella Wardiyyat Layl (Night Shift), published in 1991. The excerpt was translated by Maya Abu Deeb and is available to read online by clicking here.
Contributor's Issues
Banipal 49 - A Cornucopia of Short Stories (2014)
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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