Category: Interviews
-
An Interview with Author Ahmed Naji and Translator Katharine Halls
by Amanda Uhle Katharine Halls won the 2024 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for her work as translator of Ahmed Naji’s Rotten Evidence, published in 2023 by McSweeney’s (and currently available for 20 percent off in our store). Publishers Weekly called the book “a moving testament to the power of free expression,” and…
-
Imprisoned for His Writing, Ahmed Naji Found Freedom in Literature (Interview with Mona Kareem)
This interview was published in: Imprisoned for His Writing, Ahmed Naji Found Freedom in Literature – The Millions For my millennial generation of Arabic writers, Ahmed Naji is a name we associate with play and risk. Naji is a practitioner of humor and sarcasm, profanity and sex positivity, all interwoven with a…
-
“Ich habe mich über das Gefängnis lustig gemacht”
2016 bekam der ägyptische Schriftsteller Ahmed Naji ein Jahr Gefängnis, weil er mit einem Roman angeblich die “öffentliche Moral“ verletzt hatte. Mit schwarzem Humor gibt Naji in seinem neuen Buch “Rotten Evidence“ einen Einblick in den ebenso banalen wie grausamen Alltag in ägyptischen Gefängnissen. Von Hannah El-Hitami n Ihrem neuen Buch “Rotten Evidence“ schreiben…
-
Narrating the Middle East
The pleasure of speaking with Kim Ghattas is always inspiring. The conversations with her are usually full of laughs, jokes, and new information. By connecting the dots, she leads you to further discovery. Don’t miss all that and her new podcast, “People like us.” I was honored to be featured…
-
Salman Rushdie and the enduring risk of political art
From a report at VOX: https://www.vox.com/world/2022/8/16/23307317/salman-rushdie-stabbing-free-speech-art-threats-global Funnily enough, Naji had taken up reading Rushdie in prison. He had always wanted to read Rushdie’s novels, he said, but they are big, long books, and he remembers telling his friends that he never had the time. So Naji’s friend sent him Midnight’s Children in…
-
Arab Fiction Now & The Challenges of Writing in & About the Region
This panel of leading regional and diaspora authors will discuss the inspiration for their most recent novels and the social, cultural and political context informing their work. The panel will also explore the challenges that Arab writers in the region and its diaspora face as they reflect on societies dealing…