Interview conducted by Margrethe Zacho Haarde for Aftenposten, published on September 25.
Photo credit: Aftenposten
(….) Samar Yazbek has written her fifth book, a literary narrative, The Crossing. Yazbek writes about Syrian families who have been displaced from their homes and hiding in cold, dark caves; children with amputated limbs who sit in the sun and play.

A reviewe by Agnes Rotivel, for La Croix, published October 5th, 2015
(…) Here we are again in this mainly Sunni port city in Northern Lebanon – too often overshadowed by the capital Beirut – for which the author confesses a passion. Yet he is born in Zgherta, a Christian Maronite stronghold, 8 km away. “A tough city that made war to Tripoli in 1975,” he recalls, referring to the start of the Lebanese civil war.

The interview was conducted by Rosa Gosch for Qantara, and published in October 2015

Pen Pinter prize winner Samar Yazbek talks to Rosa Gosch about her latest book, ″The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria″, the current situation in her home country and her expectations of the West.

Click on this link to RTS‘ website.

Published by L’Humanité, on October 1st, 2015
The Lebanese author Jabbour Douaihy, professor of French literature at the University of Tripoli, immerses his reader in this city, especially in its American neighborhood, among the poorest, which he describes accurately. He explores everyday life, from the souk’s stalls, to the cries of the vegetable vendors, these “peasants who smell of damp earth in winter,” as well as the old sheikh, the soap and fish merchants, the baker who makes cheese galettes that one can eat standing up, “against the wall, facing the colorful list of the names of the Prophet’s …

Marta Norheim published this review in NRK, on December 2014. Photo credit: Cappelen Damm
“Whoever is looking for exoticism, Arabian nights, rebellion against reports about violations of human rights, or Islamic studies will be disappointed with this novel. Ghalib is mostly captivated by his age, and by the fact that he cannot marry his lover, a woman he has loved for 20 years”