ARABIC LITERATURE

Translator: Denys Johnson-Davies

Twenty-four short stories are collected in this stunning volume which include authors such as Edward El-Kharrat, Bahaa Taher, Alifa Rifaat and Ghassan Kanafani. Through the eyes of insiders, these stories show us the intimate texture of life throughout the diverse countries and cultures of the Arabic world.

Translated by Michael Azrak

A unique collection of 18 short stories that demonstrates the freshness and range of contemporary writing from Syria. Weaving together stories of romance, horror, mystery, honour and tradition the writing is vigorous and immediate.

Translated by Kamal Boullata, Susan Einbinder and Mirene Ghossein

One of the greatest poets of Arabic literature Adonis' work often centers on the process of poetic creation; his work has somehow remained highly appealing to Arab readers, and he has had, perhaps, more influence in terms of innovation and modernity than any other contemporary Arab poet. Twice he has been a finalist for the Nobel Prize.

Translated from Arabic by Farouk Abdel Wahab

The Other Place portrays the shallowness of the petrodollar culture and the price one pays for quick money. The protagonist of this prize-winning novel, an educated middle-class Egyptian from Alexandria, describes his experiences and those of migrant workers and professionals in one of the Gulf states, and their interaction with the oil-rich country's local elite and with agents of western businesses. The book pictures rather than states the desolation brought about when market values take over and the ravages that such an order causes to all who partake in it.

This sweeping novel depicts the intertwined lives of an assortment of Egyptians - Muslims and Copts, northerners and southerners, men and women - as they begin to settle in Egypt's great second city, and explores how the Second World War, starting in supposedly faraway Europe, comes crashing down on them, affecting their lives in fateful ways. Central to the novel is the story of a striking friendship between Sheikh Magd al-Din, a devout Muslim with peasant roots. Translated from Arabic by Farouk Abdel Wahab.

Tanslators: Abubaker Bagader and Deborarh Akers

First full-length work of the distinguished Yemeni writer Mohammad Abdul-Wali to appear in English; Explores the human condition through the eyes of the oppressed and disenfranchised and is particularly sympathetic to the plight of women; They Die Strangers, a novella and thirteen short stories, is the first full-length work of the distinguished Yemeni writer Mohammad Abdul-Wali to appear in English. Abdul-Wali died tragically in an aviation accident, and his stories were collected after his death by the translators Abubaker Bagader and Deborah Akers. Abdul-Wali was born in Ethiopia of Arab Yemeni parents. His stories, filled with nostalgia and the bitterness of exile, deal with the common experiences of Yemenis like himself who are caught between cultures by the displacements of civil war or labour migration. His characters include women left behind, children raised without fathers, and men returning home after years of absence. He explores the human condition through the eyes of the oppressed and disenfranchised and is particularly sympathetic to the plight of women.

A collection of short stories that examines the emotional intricacies of young people from a range of backgrounds. Set in London, Scotland and Sudan, the stories explore the feelings of those caught between two worlds and attempting to feel at home in different cultures.

Translated from Arabic by M. M. Enani

Poetry collection.

Translated from Arabic by Humphrey Davies

The Yacoubian Building holds all that Egypt was and has become over the 75 years since its namesake was built on one of downtown Cairo's main boulevards. From the pious son of the building's doorkeeper and the raucous, impoverished squatters on its roof, via the tattered aristocrat and the gay intellectual in its apartments, to the ruthless businessman whose stores occupy its ground floor, each sharply etched character embodies a facet of modern Egypt - where political corruption, ill-gotten wealth, and religious hypocrisy are natural allies, where the arrogance and defensiveness of the powerful find expression in the exploitation of the weak, where youthful idealism can turn quickly to extremism, and where an older, less violent vision of society may yet prevail. Ala Al Aswany's novel caused an unprecedented stir when it was first published in 2002 and has remained the world's best selling novel in the Arabic language since.

Translated from Arabic by Bassam K. Frangieh

Baghdad-born poet Abdul Wahab Al-Bayati broke with over 15 centuries of Arabic poetic tradition to write in free verse and became world famous in the process. Love, Death, and Exile is a rare, bilingual facing-page edition in both the original Arabic text and a highly praised English translation by Bassam K. Frangieh, containing selections from eight of Al-Bayati's books of poetry. Forced to spend much of his life in exile from his native Iraq, Al-Bayati created poetry that is not only revolutionary and political, but also steeped in mysticism and allusion, moving and full of longing. This collection is a superb introduction to Al-Bayati and Arabic language, literature, and culture.