R A Y A | agency for Arabic literature
A review by Richard Jacquemond, for Le Monde des Livres, January 26th, 2023
Through the eyes of this half-simple, half-mystical young man, like a character by the Lebanese poet Khalifa Gibran (1883 – 1931), a whole world is seen collapsing under the he effect of a war … But, with Samar Yazbek’s skill, this collapse is told in a minor key, as if the essential were elsewhere, in the life to which those who remain cling
With this poignant story, Yazbek writes about the magnificence and the cruelty of life, the destruction of worldly beauty and kindness, but also its resilience, and the elevation of the soul. Here, Yazbek goes back to one of her favorite topics: the transformation of the underprivileged rural communities of Syria, but also their unique relationship to nature and its elements.
Hisham Al Khattab is Yazid ibn Abih. At least he thinks he is. Some 13 centuries separate the two, but in the despaired mind of Hisham Al Khattab, and through the magical power of dreams, Hisham is Yazid.
The narrator, a zoo keeper, his girlfriend Nonna, and the giraffe (by far the zoo’s most popular figure), form a strange, yet happy family. This is their story, unfolding in the margins of the brutal Syrian war. Until violence can no longer be escaped.
Depicted as a story of curiosity and lust in the German press, Selamlik, autobiographic novel, tells the journey of Furat from his home in Syria, to Sweden, via Turkey. A surprising bitter-sweet homo-erotic tale.
Review by Joseph Croitoru for Frankfurter Allgemeine, 2 May 2022
When dreams go away: Khaled Khalifa recounts the recent history of Aleppo in his novel “No One prayed at their graves”.
Some works of fiction, even if not necessarily the author’s intention, can take on astonishing poignancy over time. Such is the case with Syrian author Khaled Khalifa’s latest novel, “No One Prayed at their Graves,” originally published in 2019, which evokes a forgotten era in Aleppo’s history and is now available in German in an excellent translation by Larissa Bender.
Interview by Will Forrester for PEN Transmissions, December 8, 2021
I think that if I could go back to those days, I would do the same thing all over again. I never regret going back to Syria – being there at the frontline, and in the middle of the war – nor do I regret leaving.I always tried to stay alive, but with my personal condition I had to do what needed to be done, despite the fear. By that token, in returning and sharing in death and people’s pain, through my …
In his novel, The Children of the Ghetto: My Name is Adam, Khoury tells the story of a Palestinian who – just like his people – fights for a place he can call home and for the memory of those who have been wronged.
During Conrad Festival 2021, the author talked about the social and political mechanisms that turn victims into perpetrators. How is it possible that the incredible suffering experienced by a given community fails to prevent it from inflicting violence on others?
Listen to the interview with Hanna Jankowska here.
Review by Anaïs Heluin for Politis, March 2021
Le poète Aziz Mohammed offre à travers le cas d’un jeune cancéreux le portrait drôle et cruel d’une Arabie saoudite en mal de sens.
