ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly

Ramadan Kareem, ya Gaza “Gaza does not resemble herself in Ramadan.”

A must-read this Ramadan.

"We wept. We wept because we had been starved even of this, of a voice reminding us that we still belonged to something larger than destruction."

arablit.org/2026/02/19/r...

That's where I started crying, too. 💚

Everything Alaa Alqaisi writes is extraordinary. I started weeping with the rhythm of her sentences: “Pray where you are. We wept. We wept because we had been starved even of this, of a voice reminding us that we still belonged to something larger than destruction”. Tears accompanied me to the end.

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“Meaning survives. Not meaning as explanation—there is no justification for this—but meaning as record, as presence, as a refusal to be forgotten. We were here. We loved, we mourned, we thought. We built language from ruin, shaped stories from ash.” #writers #diversevoices #resist

Fabulous interview with Said Khatibi about his novel The End of the Sahara - out 26 Feb (UK) and 24 March (US) - in
@arablit.bsky.social

He talks about organ theft, the global shifts in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and what he hopes to illuminate with crime novels

bit.ly/4aOW7bJ

Every time I read a new piece by Alaa, I am reduced to my component parts. The essay below about hunger. This new essay about Ramadan. Everything, every time.

arablit.org/2026/02/19/r...

From Reham Al-Saba’s ‘I Am at Your Door’ I Am at Your Door was written as a last resort for survival, as another form of life. In its pages, we read: “Is there anything more beautiful than writing while you are being exterminated? And her…

Haunting. "I am at your door" arablit.org/2026/02/17/f... by Reham Al-Saba tr. Dennis Farnsworth @arablit.bsky.social

An important read that is by turns a gut-wrenching, harrowing and poignant account.

“Each time I tried to breathe, all I drew in was smoke and gunpowder. It was like drowning …”

#writing #writers #diversevoices #diversereads

Ramadan Kareem, ya Gaza "Gaza does not resemble herself in Ramadan."

Ramadan Kareem, ya Gaza

"Gaza does not resemble herself in Ramadan."

Sheikh Zayed Book Award Announces 2026 Shortlists Organizers also note that all literary works on this year's shortlists will be eligible for translation support from Arabic into any world language. 

Sheikh Zayed Book Award Announces 2026 Shortlists

Organizers also note that all literary works on this year's shortlists will be eligible for translation support from Arabic into any world language. 

‘O Occupier, We Will Not Bend the Knee’ "Know that the people of this land / will never bend the knee"

‘O Occupier, We Will Not Bend the Knee’

"Know that the people of this land / will never bend the knee"

From Reham Al-Saba’s ‘I Am at Your Door’ I Am at Your Door was written as a last resort for survival, as another form of life. In its pages, we read: “Is there anything more beautiful than writing while you are being exterminated? And here, I mean the ugly meaning of beauty.”

From Reham Al-Saba’s ‘I Am at Your Door’

I Am at Your Door was written as a last resort for survival, as another form of life. In its pages, we read: “Is there anything more beautiful than writing while you are being exterminated? And here, I mean the ugly meaning of beauty.”

Part Three, Emile Habiby’s ‘The Six-Day Sextet’ Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. 

Part Three, Emile Habiby’s ‘The Six-Day Sextet’

Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. 

Said Khatibi and the Algerian Crime Novel Algerian novelist Said Khatibi talks with us about his latest novel, and the conversation turns to organ theft, the global shifts in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and what he hopes to illuminate with crime novels: not the whodunit, but the why.

Said Khatibi and the Algerian Crime Novel

Algerian novelist Said Khatibi talks with us about his latest novel, and the conversation turns to organ theft, the global shifts in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and what he hopes to illuminate with crime novels: not the whodunit, but the why.

ok Mishka says "Don't think so, but I will double check.
😎" ... will be back with any updates.

Chadian Author Wins 2026 Bait AlGhasham DarArab Prize Organizers of the Bait AlGhasham DarArab Prize today announced 2026's winning works in three categories: Authors, Translators, and Omani Publications.

Chadian Author Wins 2026 Bait AlGhasham DarArab Prize

Organizers of the Bait AlGhasham DarArab Prize today announced 2026's winning works in three categories: Authors, Translators, and Omani Publications.

From ‘My Butterfly That Does Not Die’ Refaat Al Areer had set the scene, declaring, “If I must die,” and Alaa Al Qatarawi’s sorrow metamorphosed into a butterfly that perseveres. She writes, “If I die, my butterfly does not die.”

From ‘My Butterfly That Does Not Die’

Refaat Al Areer had set the scene, declaring, “If I must die,” and Alaa Al Qatarawi’s sorrow metamorphosed into a butterfly that perseveres. She writes, “If I die, my butterfly does not die.”

On Finding Community Through Adabiyat Adabiyat is a virtual book club for readers of Arabic literature to come together monthly and debate, interpret, and appreciate written works of the Arab world and its diaspora. Houcine Chraïbi is …

Lovely article in @arablit.bsky.social by @verslemaroc.bsky.social about the pleasures of joining a unique book club - in this case Adabiyat, which focuses on Arab lit in English translation (or by writers from the diaspora). arablit.org/2026/02/11/o... For more info see @__adabiyat__ on instagram.

On Finding Community Through Adabiyat Adabiyat is a virtual book club for readers of Arabic literature to come together monthly and debate, interpret, and appreciate written works of the Arab world and its diaspora. Houcine Chraïbi is …

Today @arablit.bsky.social published my essay about Adabiyat , the book club that turned me back into a reader #ArabLit
arablit.org/2026/02/11/o...

hmmm I don't know, let me ask Mishka to ask Maria, as it were.

"welcomes manuscripts from all living writers, including non-US citizens, writing in English."

that means all of you, everyone writing in English, anywhere in the world.

Maria Douaihy: ‘The Play is Everything’ “With Yehia, the play is everything. So, we make sure that sets, costumes and props fit in one car. This way we are ready to perform at short notice." - Maria Douaihy on "Qornet el Bayda."

Maria Douaihy: ‘The Play is Everything’

“With Yehia, the play is everything. So, we make sure that sets, costumes and props fit in one car. This way we are ready to perform at short notice." - Maria Douaihy on "Qornet el Bayda."

An Apology to May Ziadeh A letter from ArabLit editor Ibtihal Rida Mahmood to May Ziadeh (1886-1941).

"Dear May Ziadeh," is a letter from our editor Ibtihal Rida Mahmood with a small announcement at the end.

arablit.org/2026/02/06/a...

‘But I refuse to die.

Since if I did

[…]

I would not walk

to the birthday parties

of my martyred friends

in the nearby graveyard

as I have decided to do tonight.’

‘A New Year in Gaza’: By Ibrahim Nasrallah The people named in this poem are the writers, painters, and musicians martyred in the genocide. They are only a few of the many artists who were martyred in the past two years of war against Gaza.

‘A New Year in Gaza’: By Ibrahim Nasrallah

The people named in this poem are the writers, painters, and musicians martyred in the genocide. They are only a few of the many artists who were martyred in the past two years of war against Gaza.

yes

Part Two, Emile Habiby’s ‘The Six-Day Sextet’ Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. The next installment is set to appear February 16, 2026.

Part Two, Emile Habiby’s ‘The Six-Day Sextet’

Over the next six weeks, we will be publishing installments of Emile Habiby's The Six-Day Sextet, which is available in an open-access, non-commercial translation by Invisible Dragoman. The next installment is set to appear February 16, 2026.

well I feel slightly less embarrassed and manic about my reading habits thank you. 💚

Our search function isn't so fantastic that you can narrow to translated Palestinian fiction (unfortunately, our fault in not categorizing properly) but you can just search "Palestinian" & find plenty of wonderful literary things: arablit.org?s=Palestinian

If you are able, please consider supporting this work by opening doors. If you know a person, a magazine, a small press, a curator, a translator, a festival, a librarian—anyone who might be open to building channels for Palestinian publishing—please connect us. Even a single introduction can turn into a long path of collaboration.

A mis queridus madrilenyus, por si podéis atender su petición 🙏: Mahmoud es un poeta y editor g/azatí. Entre otras cosas co-editó aquel magnífico cuaderno especial de @arablit.bsky.social sobre G/aza. 👇