For those new to the reading groups, And Other Stories is a fantastic independent UK publisher, and one way they select fiction to translate and publish is through reading groups. The groups help AOS get feedback from savvy readers, by reading as-of-yet untranslated novels, discussing them online and in person, and helping AOS pick what to publish.

One great part about the group is that it’s open to people who read in Arabic and people who don’t.

The And Other Stories Arabic reading group is back for a second round this winter, and we hope you’ll join us in reading and discussing some exciting Syrian fiction.

The first Arabic group was part of a series of special Finnegan’s List reading groups, and met in autumn 2013 to read three Syrian books selected by Samar Yazbek. This time, our group will be continuing our focus on Syria with three more books: No Knives in the Kitchens of this City by Khaled Khalifa, The Caves of Hydrahodahose by Salim Barakat, and The Gist of It by Rasha Abbas.

You can take part in discussions in person in London, as well as online in the comments section of the author pages. If your book club in another city is interested in reading along (last time we had groups in Cairo and New York City too), let us know at reading@andotherstories.org. Most of all, we want to know what you think of the novels. Thanks to your discussion online and in person, one or more of the books we discuss might make it into English.

We also invite editors from around the world to read the English samples, peruse the author pages and even come to our meet-ups to hear more. (And Other Stories doesn’t publish many titles each year, so we’d be delighted if you followed up on one of these tips and published the author – do let us know!)

This group is chaired by Elisabeth Jaquette, who can be reached at reading@andotherstories.org for more information.