On the rise of Arabic Literature in the West

In The Anglo Arab Encounter, Geoffrey Nash comments that "to the extent that Arab and Islamic oriented events in recent history have impacted on the West...the level of interest they have raised feeds into a dissemination and consumption of texts that might be deemed to interface with (and even partially "explain") those events". These dynamics can be …

Reviewing Saud Alsanousi’s The Bamboo Stalk

In the National today, Novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab reviews Saud Alsanousi’s The Bamboo Stalk, winner of the IPAF in 2013, which has been translated to English by Jonathan Wright. Set in the Philippines and Kuwait, the book explores the  phenomenon of foreign workers i noted Gulf and the problems of racism and identity conflict experienced by José/Isa, the son of Josephine, …

Syrian Cartoonist Ali Farzat

Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat talks at Oslo's Freedom Forum and Reel Festival, as part of a panel on 'Culture under Fire' with author Manhal Sarraj, Asian Dub Foundation singer Steve Chadra Savale, academic and activist Donatella Dellaratta and author Robin Yassin Kassab.