Publisher Lynn Gaspard reflects on Saqi Books' 40‑year legacy as Middle East conflict escalates. She argues that independent presses preserve nuanced narratives that mainstream headlines erase, turning cookbooks, memoirs, and scholarship into lasting testimony. While commercial returns are modest, the cumulative impact reshapes public understanding and offers displaced voices a platform. Gaspard calls for heightened commitment to diversity and critical thinking in publishing amid the crisis.
Interlink Books has released Iman Humaydan’s novel *Songs for Darkness* in English, translated by Michelle Hartman. The book celebrates Syrian women’s oral traditions, weaving harvest songs into a narrative of memory and resistance. Excerpts reveal protagonist Shahira’s journey from rural...
The British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) has opened applications for its Arabic Summer Workshop, part of a twelve‑strand online program running July 20‑24. Led by translator Sawad Hussain and author Omaima Al‑Khamis, the Arabic strand will focus on Al‑Khamis’s...
Bassma Sheikho’s poem “Scream,” translated by Maisaa Tanjour and Alice Holttum, appears in the spring 2026 issue *SYRIA: Fall of Eternity*. The piece, written in 2016, portrays a war‑torn Syrian household through stark, fragmented imagery, culminating in a cry for...
ArabLit Quarterly announced its Spring 2026 double issue, titled “SYRIA: Fall of Eternity,” guest‑edited by Ghada Alatrash and Fadi Azzam. The anthology assembles poems, prose, and visual art that chronicle Syria’s half‑century of turmoil and the ongoing quest for freedom....
ArabLit has released a new translation of Mohammed Hussein Heikal’s classic short story “The Atonement of Love,” rendered into English by linguist Amr El‑Zawawy. The piece, originally published in early‑20th‑century Egypt, follows Zuhayrah’s tragic quest for emotional fulfillment amid restrictive marriage...