Olivia Snaije writes a portrait of Dujols, for Publishing Perspectives, January 2016
Arabic literature is notoriously difficult to translate — not only for the complexity of the language but also for the variety of dialects and the challenge of making the prose accessible to Western readers. Arabic literary translators are few and far between, and the Arabic-to-English translators have become, in their world, akin to rock stars, thanks to the establishment in 2005 of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic literary translation. In France, although translators are given more recognition …

The Award for Arabic literature, worth €10,000, was created by the Arab world institute (Institut du monde arabe, Paris), and the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation (Paris).
The award is presided by Pierre Leroy, Co-manager of Lagardère SCA, and is composed of several personalities from the worlds of media, arts, culture, as well as specialists of the Arab world. A vast majority of the jury elected Mohammed Hasan Alwan’s novel, which was also previously shortlisted for the International Prize of Arabic Fiction, IPAF (or Arab Man Booker).
The prize will be awarded on October 14th 2015 …

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”

Very few Saudi writers are translated in Europe. Here is a UFO published by Le Seuil: The Beaver, Mohammed Hasan Alwan, paints a portrait of Saudi Arabi tainted with humour. The society is weighed down by traditions, religion, but is also changing with a very young population that aspires to change.
See more here.
Très peu d’écrivains saoudiens sont traduits en Europe. Voici donc un ovni publié par les éditions du Seuil : Le Castor, de Mohammed Hasan Alwan, dresse un portrait teinté d’humour de l’Arabie Saoudite. Une société plombée par les traditions, le poids de …

Alwan, and his novel “Beavers” were the guests of Katheline Evin’s show on France Inter, on May 26th, 2015. Listen here.
Below a review that was published on their website. An excerpt in Englihs:
“Cruel and nostalgic, funny and incredibly fierce, this book obviously speaks of Saudi Arabia, its archaisms and violence, the patriarcal system and sexual repression that prevail. But above all, with devastating humour, this novel tells the story of those families where the lack of love, the hypocrisy, greed and rejection of others damage its children and raise walls between …

This review by Catherine Simon, was published by Le Monde des Livres, on January 22, 2015. Below are a few excerpts in English.
Both melancholic and hilarious, this story (…) sheds a critical, often fierce, light on the Saudi society and its offspring (…)