New Arabic Fiction in Translation
A variety of genres will hit the shelves, many by familiar names.
By Ben East
When Hadara spoke to Jalal Barjas about winning the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) last year, the Jordanian was excited by the worldwide exposure his fantastical yet deeply human novel, Notebooks of the Bookseller, would now receive. “Translation is the word’s way to the mind and heart of foreign readers,” he said. “I want them to read my thoughts and picture my dreams.”
They’ll be able to do just that in the autumn, when Paul Starkey’s translation of Notebooks of the Bookseller is published by Interlink. The desire for contemporary Arab fiction translated into English is greater than ever. Partly that’s a function of the IPAF’s increasing visibility. Partly it’s thanks to the acclaim for other recent Arabic works, such as Jokha Alharthi’s Man Booker International Prize in 2019 for Celestial Bodies—the first for a translation from Arabic. Here are some standout translations from Arabic for 2022.
In Bitter Orange Tree (Catapult, May), Alharthi chronicles the life of a young Omani woman in Britain and that of the woman she called her grandmother. The award-winning Marilyn Booth, who did Celestial Bodies,translates.
Mohammed Hasan Alwan’s 2017 IPAF winner Ibn Arabi’s Small Death is already out from University of Texas Press. Celebrated Naguib Mahfouz translator William M. Hutchins takes on this work of historical fiction, which reimagines the life of 12th-century Sufi master and philosopher Ibn Arabi. Ibn Arabi was born in Spain and died in Damascus, so this is a continent-spanning exploration of Muslim life from the Saudi author. IPAF judges commended Alwan for his artistry and captivating language against the background of a tumultuous historical period.
The Men Who Swallowed the Sun by Egyptian writer Hamdi Abu Golayyel (Hoopoe, March) is a tale of two men who try to escape desert poverty; one only makes it to southern Libya, the other to Milan. With plenty of ironic and satirical touches, the story balances dark comedy and the reality of illegal immigration. Translator Humphrey Davies died in November; the work is a fitting coda to Davies’ role in advancing the Arab novel in translation.
Lebanese author Jabbour Douaihy was celebrated for his intricate explorations of Lebanese life and society over the decades, and his death at 72 last July prompted a reappraisal of his work. The King of India (Interlink, May) was shortlisted for the IPAF in 2020. Paula Haydar translates the part murder-mystery, part thriller and part social history. When the body of a man recently returned from exile is found outside a Lebanese village, fingers are pointed at his grasping cousins—but why was he carrying a famous Marc Chagall painting?
After a lengthy novel-writing career, Reem Bassiouney of Egypt won the 2018 Naguib Mahfouz Award for Sons of the People: The Mamluk Trilogy. Translated by the award-winning Roger Allen (Syracuse University Press, April), it’s an historical epic, a deep and vivid portrait of medieval Cairo, focusing on three generations of Egyptians as they navigate turbulent times and tragic love.
Libyan Ibrahim al-Koni uses his poetic, magical-realist style—derived from his formative years living in the Sahara—to retell the Muslim wars of conquest in North Africa during the Middle Ages from the viewpoint of the conquered. The Night Will Have Its Say (Hoopoe, May), translated by Nancy Roberts, might be set in 693 CE but its exploration of elite privilege, the destruction of the natural world and the futility of war is modern and timely.
In The Drowning (Interlink, August) Sudanese author Hammour Ziada explores the fallout when the body of a young girl washes up on the banks of the Nile. She’s not the first—and a woman appears every time a body is found, looking for her own missing daughter. Paul Starkey translates this third novel from the previously IPAF-nominated Ziada, which opens a window into the lives of women in strictly traditional Sudan.
