A review by Richard Jacquemond, for Le Monde des Livres, January 26th, 2023
 
Through the eyes of this half-simple, half-mystical young man, like a character by the Lebanese poet Khalifa Gibran (1883 – 1931), a whole world is seen collapsing under the he effect of a war … But, with Samar Yazbek’s skill, this collapse is told in a minor key, as if the essential were elsewhere, in the life to which those who remain cling

With this poignant story, Yazbek writes about the magnificence and the cruelty of life, the destruction of worldly beauty and kindness,  but also its resilience, and the elevation of the soul. Here, Yazbek goes back to one of her favorite topics: the transformation of the underprivileged rural communities of Syria, but also their unique relationship to nature and its elements.

 
Interview by Will Forrester for PEN Transmissions, December 8, 2021
I think that if I could go back to those days, I would do the same thing all over again. I never regret going back to Syria – being there at the frontline, and in the middle of the war – nor do I regret leaving.I always tried to stay alive, but with my personal condition I had to do what needed to be done, despite the fear. By that token, in returning and sharing in death and people’s pain, through my …

Samar Yazbek‘s novel “Planet of clay” (also known as The blue pen) is a finalist to the National Book Award, and is competing with 4 other titles in the translated fiction category!
Planet of clay was in the third and final selection of the French Femina award in 2018.
 

Yazbek is in the longlist of the presitigous National Book Award !
Publishers submitted a total of 164 books for the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature. The judges for Translated Literature are Stephen Snyder (Chair), Jessie Chaffee, Sergio de la Pava, Madhu H. Kaza, and Achy Obejas. Judge’s decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and Board of Directors and deliberations are strictly confidential.
Winners in all categories will be announced live at the National Book Awards Ceremony on November 17.

Interview and forward by Nada Ghosn, for The Markaz Review, November 9, 2020
In the cities or in the countryside, in the first year, women were symbols, the showcase of the revolution. But they were symbolically murdered by their comrades. They were the targets of the regime, of the revolutionaries, as well as of the militias that oppressed them politically. With the war, the tensions within Syrian identity since the country’s independence exploded. Our identity became fragmented. Intellectuals proved to be communitarian and separatist as well. Revolutionaries have not been less …