By Florence Noiville, for Le Monde, publisher on December 21st, 2017

Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy offers a fake thriller, but a real comedy, tribute to Arabic writing and printing.
Here is a Lebanese novel that is far from the stereotypes of Europeans on Middle Eastern literature. There are no reminiscences of war, no religious questions, no community issues. It is about Beirut, the history of which is told through that of a printing press, starting 1914. But it is also about the laughable posture of the contemporary writer.
From the first lines, the humor of Jabbour Douaihy prevails.

Marianne Payot, for L’Express
Published on March 5, 2017
Sinan Antoon brushes off the superb portrait of a man carried away by the maelstrom of the Middle East and raises the veil over Baghdad.
It is the story of a broken destiny, that of a young man who wanted to become a sculptor and who ends up washing the dead. Like his father and all his ancestors before him. A craft that knows no respite in contemporary worn torn Iraq.

Youssef Ait Akdim, for Jeune Afrique, July 2013.
Photo credit: Bruno Levy
Dans Souriez, vous êtes en Tunisie !, Habib Selmi dresse un portrait acide de son pays. Écrit avant la révolution, ce roman prémonitoire sonde une société en plein bouleversement.

There are 14 titles on the shortlist, and the winner will be announced on October 10th. The Prix Médicis aims at giving recognition to authors whose fame does not match their talent. The prize was awarded to authors such as Jean Echenoz, Philippe Sollers, Sorj Chalandon or Marie Darieussecq in the past.
Earlier in the summer, Samar Yazbek was given the title of”Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”, or “Knight of literature”, by the French ministry of culture. This title is a sign of recognition of the services Yazbek …

Jean Hatzfeld for Le Monde des Livres, April 15  2016
Les Portes du néant, à la frontière turque, s’ouvrent une première fois sur la route qui mène à la région d’Idlib, dans le nord-ouest de la Syrie. Samar Yazbek les franchit en août 2012, en se faufilant dans un trou creusé sous des barbelés. Une voiture l’attend, qui traverse la nuit sur un fond sonore de bombardements, avec à l’intérieur Maysara et Mohammed, deux frères d’armes rebelles : ses anges gardiens.

Gregoire Lemenager, for Le Nouvel Observateur, March 20th 2016
(…) She who until now scanned the gray areas of the good Damascene society in daring novels ( “Cinnamon” tells the homosexual relationship of a bourgeois with her housekeeper), then published “In the crossfire” (Buchet-Chastel, 2012) and collects literary awards that applaud her courage.