“Overall, if you can muster the patience, this novel will teach you some important things”

Mishka Mourani says “American neighbourhood” is Douaihy’s “best novel yet”

Taken from Viaggioadoriente, by Francesca Del Vecchio, (and loosely translated).
September 2014.
The Mediterranean Festival of Literature, in its 12th edition this year, has tackled the narration of “Identity”. And who better than the Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy could represent the essence of this argument, using a text whose starting point is precisely that of identity, “St. George looked elsewhere” (Feltrinelli 2012) (Chased away).

“A candid depiction of death, June Rain is one of the most powerful novels on Lebanon. It is rich, complex, beautifully written and more importantly, beautifully translated by Paula Haydar. This work is outstanding and will continue to remain relevant.”

Prison is prolonged in life. I was released in 1994 and yet last night I woke up and thought I was still in prison.

Beyond the thrill of the play and Noor Theater’s wonderful production, I was equally impressed by how several quality institutions had come together to offer the public this reading and the illuminating discussion that followed. The Martin Segal Theater Center, at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, hosted the event, under the able leadership of executive director Frank Hentschker. The English translation of the play and its first production in Beirut a few months ago largely reflected the work of two professors at the American University of Beirut – Robert Myers and Sahara Assad – along with Nada Saab at the Lebanese American University.