The Frankfurt Book Fair unfolds as we speak, yet many professionals of the book industry, like myself, have decided to withdraw, and more still have signed open letters. This one, put together by Marcia Lynx Qualey and Olivia Snaij, has to date gathred over 600 signatures by some of the most intellectual prestigious names of our industry.
Below is the statement I shared across RAYA agency’s network on Sunday.
 
 

Khalil Alrez will be in Berlin on June 29th and 30th! If you’re in town, pass by and attend the talks and readings!

Published by Zeit Online, on February 15th, 2023, translated from the Arabic into German by Larissa Bender
Below some excerpts in English, translated with the help of Google translate.
Photo credit (c) Hassan Ammar / AP / Aleppo
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“I never thought that one day I would stand on the hilltop of the world and see Syria being hit by an earthquake. The earth had trembled a few times when I was growing up, and all I remember is my mother’s fear that we would all die under the rubble. She woke us up after midnight and got us out quickly. The …

Review by Joseph Croitoru for Frankfurter Allgemeine, 2 May 2022
When dreams go away: Khaled Khalifa recounts the recent history of Aleppo in his novel “No One prayed at their graves”.
Some works of fiction, even if not necessarily the author’s intention, can take on astonishing poignancy over time. Such is the case with Syrian author Khaled Khalifa’s latest novel, “No One Prayed at their Graves,” originally published in 2019, which evokes a forgotten era in Aleppo’s history and is now available in German in an excellent translation by Larissa Bender.

As Khalifa’s “Death is hard work” was a finalist of  the Premio Gregor Von rezzori award 2020, his previous novel “There are no knives in the kitchens of the city” gains attention in German speaking territory, and was featured in a dedicated 4 minutes film on 3 Sat TV!

Listen to the interview here.