An interview conducted by William Irigoyen, for La Cite, published in November 2015.
A few excerpts below in the French original, and in English.
Photo credit: Samih Zaatari, La Cite.
Thus summed up in its broad lines, the story would present only little interest, if it did not give a new opportunity to the author to dissect this society he knows so well, and the flaws of which he loves depicting: corruption (“At the time of the elections, the rich were buying people’s votes; people wondered how they could have amassed such fortunes”); money that allows everything.
Book after …

Sharjah: It is not a writer’s job to categorise his or her book into any particular genre, it is for readers or critics to decide, a panel of Arab writers echoed during a literary session on the first evening of Sharjah International Book Fair 2015.
In a session on similarities between literary genres, a panel of renowned Arab writers Dr Shukri Al Makhbout, Fatima Sultan Al Mazroui and Hoda Barakat shared their thoughts on the similarities between genres and how writers are least bothered about the issues of classification of their …

Ibn Rushd Foundation for the Freedom of Thought is an association based in Germany, whose members are from the Arab diaspora or live across various Arab countries. It takes its name after the philosopher Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), taking it upon itself to support free thought and democratic forces in the Arab world by offering an annual prize. The award is independent, funded by contributions from its members and donations from supporters, with no link to any political or ideological trends. The award’s topic change each year.

Mou’in Al Bayari, for Al Araby, October 16th, 2015
The Belarusian Svetlana Alexievich, journalist, meets with many people who witnessed the tragedy she writes about about. She gathers their testimonies, and creates out of an open collage a narrative. The result is not a novel in the usual sense of the term, nor is it a reportage or an investigation. It is a meeting of literature with journalism. It invoques reality, as it is, but with an elevated writing style, rich with words expressing both the intimate and the apparent.