R A Y A | agency for Arabic literature
On April 24th, the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction was awarded to Ibrahim Nasrallah for his novel “The Second Dog War”, a satirical novel, partly dystopia, partly science fiction, that depicts a not-so-distant grim future.
The novel is entertaining and was for Ibrahim Nasrallah an opportunity to explore uncharted literary territory. While offering a skillful critique of extreme forms of our contemporary consumerism and corruption, Nasrallah also goes over the transformation of a man, the main character Rashed, who goes from an idealistic rebel, to a powerful businessman, ultimately transforming into a …
In a devastated future, Rached, a rebel turned loyal, starts running money schemes that benefit the Castle. Finally in a position of great power, Rached will indirectly cause the Second Dog War, which will lead him to his end.
An illegal emigrant writes a letter to his lover; a torturer on the run writes his mother… 5 letters accidentally linked to each other.
It is a fresh, funny and immensely clever take on what life is like for your average millennial in an unstable corrupt country – where anything is possible, and nothing can be relied upon.
The women of Syria have to fight not only the Regime, or the Islamist rebels; they have to fight the whole of a patriarchal society, including male revolutionaries. Yazbek collects their stories.
Published by La Repubblica, March 16, 2018
It was 2011, and while the wind of hope of the Arab springs overwhelmed the region and even infected Syria, In Praise of Hatred came out in Italy: a powerful and uncompromising book that made known the most important voice of Syrian literature today, that of Khaled Khalifa. Since then, the writer has never stopped expressing his support of the youth who in 2011 had taken to the streets dreaming of a different country. Armed with recognition and the choice not to leave Damascus even in its darkest …
Published by La Stampa, March 10, 2018
Aleppo, a family portrait in an inferno, between Vivaldi’s music and street bombs
The lives of four brothers unravel parallel to the construction of the Assad regime. From the 70s, with the occupation of the army and schools, to the (disappointed) hopes of the 2000s.
An interview conducted by Maan Jalal for The Arab Edition – below an excerpt.
The Second War of the Dog sees our anti-hero protagonist within a fantasy sci-fi setting. Acting as an opponent to an oppressing regime that cherishes power we see him transform into to an extremist. Parallels are obvious in the novel to what the Arab world has witnessed from social and political unrest over the last few years.
‘I was definitely influenced,’ Nasrallah says, ‘the bloody reality that we have witnessed and lived in for last few years has left …
By Porter Anderson, for Publishing Perspectives, April 24th, 2018. Below an excerpt.
‘What We Could Become’
The book was first published in Arabic in 2016 by Lebanon-based Arab Scientific Publishers. Rights are represented by Raya Literary Agency. More information, including a sample translation, is available upon request here.
Nasrallah has said that his book is “a warning of what we could become in the future.”
