Ashur Etwebi: A House In The Wind (Poem)

By in Ashur Etwebi, English, poetry, translation Tags: , ,

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A fragile afternoon A vast sea Empty trees A butterfly and a grave I am here The villagers are here Tales in strange languages are here Broken tongues are here I wish I knew that I lied down on a pillow of absence I wish I knew that the cricket frightened the little larva I wish I knew that the words are adrift and the coffee is light I wish I knew that the eyes are veiled and the bell is cursed The poor boats raised the faces of the refugees as its sails Only the fearful are capable of […]

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The Legacy of Tyranny in Libya*

By in English, Gaddafi, Libya

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As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Arab uprisings, with all its manifestations and aftermaths, the debate on the outcomes of those historic events are becoming more crucial and polarising. Nothing is more indicative of this polarisation than in the case of the Libyan uprising with its consequences: civil war, foreign intervention, and the many crises that followed the toppling of the Gaddafi regime in the North African country. The legacy of any tyrannical regime can take many decades to be resolved. The clear threat by Gaddafi in 2011 to commit mass slaughter in Benghazi and other Libyan towns […]

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ياسمين اليباي-براون: الحجاب يمثل نبذا للقيم التقدمية

By in Arabic, translation Tags: , , ,

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عندما ترتدي حتى الفتيات الصغيرات الحجاب، فإننا بحاجة إلى أن نتسأل عن ما يرمز له تغطية الإناث قد تكون أزمة آلفية أو رد فعل متأخر لعقود من التاريخ السيئ، ولكن يبدو أن الملايين من المسلمين قد انكفاؤوا على انفسهم، متلهفين لعصر ذهبي متخيل. إنهم يحتقرون قيم الحداثة المرنة واللينة. بعضهم منجذب إلى عقيدة ودعاة رجعيين، في حين أن عددا لا بأس منهم قد ألقى بنفسه إلى الإسلام السياسي لمقاومة ومحاربة الهيمنة الغربية – أو هذا ما يقال. إنني اتابع، كمسلمة شيعية ممارسة للشعائر الدينية (وإن كان بشكل معيب)، (الطهرانيون) المتشددون الجدد بقلق. وكذلك تتابعهم الاغلبية الصامتة من المسلمين الآخرين في […]

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روبرتو بولانيو: حمراء الشعر

By in Arabic, short story, translation Tags: , , ,

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نص: روبيرتو بولانيو كانت في الثامنة عشر من العمر وكانت متورطة في تجارة المخدرات. كنت أراها دائما في الماضي ولكن اذا اردت ان ارسمها الآن لما استطعت ذلك. اتذكر بأنه كان لها أنفا صقريا معقوفا، وأنها ولبضعة اشهر كانت حمراء الشعر، اتذكر انني سمعتها تضحك مرة او مرتين من نافذة مطعم بينما كنت انتظر سيارة اجرة او بينما كنت امر بالقرب تحت المطر. كانت في الثامنة عشر من العمر وكانت تنام مرة كل اسبوعين مع شرطي من وحدة مكافحة المخدرات. كنت اراها في احلامي وهي ترتدي بنطلون جينز وقميصا صوفيا اسودا وفي المرات القليلة التي نظرت فيها إلي كانت تضحك […]

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‘African Titanics': A Book to Humanize the Reader

By in English

‘African Titanics': A Book to Humanize the Reader

Originally posted on Arabic Literature (in English): There are at least a half-dozen ways you could read the English version of African Titanics, depending on how — and with what — you approach it: The short novel, written by Eritrean novelist Abu Bakr Khaal (2008), and ably translated by Charis Bredon (2014), could be read as a “there but for the grace of God go I!” narrative. From this vantage, the book is about poor migrants who make their way up through desert and sea to start new, better lives in Europe. Or, for the reader interested in world events, it could be read as a “humanizing” tale that […]

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جمعة بوكليب: هامش عابر على متن الواقع الليبي الراهن

By in Arabic, Libya, جمعة بوكليب Tags: , ,

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” اللي في البيضه أوعر من اللي فقس “،  مثل شعبي مغربي قرأته في صفحة  الأستاذ الهادي حقيق، على الفيسبوك، في المدة الماضية، وألتصق بذاكرتي كانجذاب برادة حديد لقوة مغناطيس، لشدة دلالاته، التي يسلطها على ما يحدث في واقعنا، على المستويين القطري  الليبي، والقومي العربي. الحقيقة، أن علاقتي بالفيسبوك تتسم بكثير من التذبذب، بمعنى أنني لا أحرص كثيراً على ما متابعة ما يجري فيها، أولاً: لانشغالاتي اليومية الكثيرة التي لا تترك لي إلا هامشاً صغيراً من الوقت، أفضل قضائه فيما أحب. وثانياً:  أن الكثير مما ينشر على صفحات الفيسبوك ليس مثيراً كثيراً لاهتمامي. وبالطبع، كما في كل شيء، هناك استثناءات […]

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Libya: a postponed hope

By in English, Gaddafi, Libya, Revolution Tags: , ,

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After three years of the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya is facing new challenges in its struggle to build a nation with state institutions based on the rule of law and the principles of democracy. Since the fall of the dictatorship, Libya has been through many troubling and chaotic times, but the current crisis that began since the June 2014 elections seems to be the most challenging, which could lead to more crises in the country’s transition process. The current Libyan crisis was the result of many factors, notwithstanding the legacy of despotism that the new state institutions inherited […]

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Short Story: Techno

By in English, literature, short story Tags: , ,

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It was the first day of summer, the sun was high in the sky when he decided to walk to the near by bakery to get some bread and pastries. The street was empty, quietness dominated the the neighbourhood where he lived since his birth four decades ago. A stray cat was rummaging through the bin bags, thrown at the corner of the alley, it was devouring a piece of bone when it looked up at him then returned back to its meal. He can still remember when there was no pavement or tarmac in this part of the city, […]

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Alessandro Spina's The Confines of the Shadow: A multi-generational series of novels set in Benghazi from 1912 to 1964.

By in Libya, novel, translation Tags: , , , ,

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WINNER OF THE PREMIO CAVALLINI 2011 & THE  PREMIO BAGUTTA 2007  “The Italian Joseph Conrad” Libero, 09/07/2011 “A 20th Century Balzac” Il Giornale, 09/09/2011 The Confines of the Shadow The Confines of the Shadow is a sequence of novels and short stories that map the transformation of the Libyan city of Benghazi from a sleepy Ottoman backwater in the 1910s to the second capital of an oil-rich kingdom in the 1960s. Alessandro Spina’s saga begins in November 1912 with The Young Maronite, which sees Italian soldiers solidifying their control over Libya’s coasts, leaving Libyan rebels to withdraw to the desert and prepare for a […]

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Chewing Gum: Absurdity in its Beautiful Form

By in books, English, Libya, literature, novel, review, translation Tags: , , , ,

Chewing Gum: Absurdity in its Beautiful Form

Chewing Gum By: Mansour Bushnaf Translated: Mona Zaki Publisher: DARF Publishers 2014 Pages: 125 This is a book that I first read in Arabic, when it was published by a small independent publisher in Cairo in 2007, the novel which wasn’t allowed to be distributed by Libyan authorities inside the country, was handed over from one reader to another and became famous for its satirical criticism of the Qaddafi regime. Now in its new resurrected form in English, “Chewing Gum” has proven to be one of the best novels in modern times to describe in a satirical, cynical style the […]

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