In this week’s round-up of literary news, our editors report on losses, scandals, shortlists, and banned books. While Egypt mourns the loss of one its most gifted storytellers, the Katara Prize’s shortlist announcement has also given the nation’s writers something to be proud of. Meanwhile, Bulgarian PEN and Swedish PEN are respectively dealing with separate issues surrounding the dissemination of sensitive literature. Read on to find out more!
Ibrahim Sayed Fawzy Elsayed, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Egypt
The 9th edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novels has unveiled an eclectic shortlist, featuring nine captivating titles hailing from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, and Palestine. Egypt topped the shortlist with three outstanding titles: The Secret Society of Citizens by the best-selling novelist Ashraf El-Ashmawi (Al-Dar Al-Masriah Al-Lubnaniah, 2022), You Shine, You Light Up by Rasha Adly (Dar El-Shorouk, 2022), and The Signs of a Lover by Mohamed Mowafi (Dar El-Ain Publishing, 2022). These Egyptian novels employ a unique lens on history to dissect pressing socio-political issues within Egyptian society.
Additionally, there’s one more literary treasure on the horizon: recently, the prominent Egyptian publisher Dar El-Sharouq has posthumously released a final novel—one last Bedouin tale—by Hamdy Abu Golayyel (1967-2023), an author of Bedouin descent, celebrated for chronicling the lives of Egypt’s marginalized and working class. The novel is entitled My Mother’s Rooster; in his last interview on ArabLit, Abu Golayyel had said, “I’m currently working on a novel titled ديك أمي / My Mother’s Rooster. I first titled it as غيط أمي / My Mother’s Field. My mother used to raise chickens, and she had a rooster that was very dear to her. So I changed the title to My Mother’s Rooster.”
Abu Golayyel has left an indelible mark on Arabic literature. His literary journey began with the publication of a short-story collection, Swarms of Bees (1997), followed by Items Folded with Great Care (2000). His debut novel, Thieves in Retirement (tr. Marilyn Booth), hit shelves in 2002, while his second, Dog with No Tail (tr. Robin Moger, 2008), won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal. Notably, his 2018 novel, The Men Who Swallowed the Sun (tr. Humphrey Davies), earned him the prestigious 2022 Banipal Prize.
Before signing off, I would be remiss not to remind emerging Arab writers that registration for the literary residency offered by Sefsafa Publishing House and Beit Telmissany, and funded by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), is still open. You can find more information (in Arabic) on the residency here. Good luck!
Andriana Hamas, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from Bulgaria
Earlier this month, the city of Sofia hosted the latest edition of the annual Book Alley Week, during which one hundred and forty local publishing houses had the opportunity to showcase their most exciting new titles. For some of them, however, the event did not go as smoothly as planned.
In the aftermath of the festival, the Bulgarian branch of PEN International urgently called on the Prosecutor’s Office, the Bulgarian Book Association, and several other institutions to pay attention to the participation of the Edelweiss Publishing House. In its statement, the organization, which unites professional writers and journalists from all over the country, declared that Edelweiss was spreading Nazi propaganda and demanded immediate action from the authorities, clarifying that restricting access to hatred-inciting books was not equal to imposing censorship.
It is worth noting that this was not the first accusation aimed at Edelweiss. In May, Shalom, an organization of Bulgarian Jews, signed an open letter against the controversial publisher, requesting that its books not be displayed during the Spring Book Fair. Edelweiss responded, saying that “Shalom’s claims do not correspond to the truth and intentionally mislead the Bulgarian public. . . It is evident that the accusations are based solely on interpretations of the book covers or the authors’ biographies, but not on the actual content. . . Shalom’s request constitutes a gross violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, which guarantees the freedom of speech.”
Several pertinent questions remain to be answered. Will the relevant authorities finally take a stand? What will it mean for the future of local publishing practices? How far will the repercussions reach? We have yet to see.
Eva Wissting, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Sweden
On October 9, Swedish PEN will launch the inaugural Banned Books Week in Sweden in collaboration with Dawit Isaak-biblioteket (Dawit Isaak Library). Banned Books Week, an initiative originating from the US in 1982, is a response to the presence of certain titles being increasingly challenged in schools, libraries, and bookstores. The purpose of this event is to bring the book community––including readers, writers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and educators––together to highlight the importance of open access to information, as well as every person’s right to read. The organizers have emphasized that books are central to spreading thoughts and ideas, and when a book is banned, it is also a ban on the thoughts and ideas the book conveys.
During the Banned Books Week in Sweden, various works that are or have been banned in the world will be highlighted. Collaborators are encouraged to host events like readings, exhibitions, author talks, panels, and book clubs, and to share these activities under the hashtag #bannedbooksweeksverige. Swedish PEN’s collaborator in this event, Dawit Isaak-biblioteket, is a library located at Malmö City Archives and focuses on banned literature; it includes both books that have been banned or censored, as well as literature on themes like artistic freedom, freedom of speech, democracy, censorship, etc. The library is named after Dawit Isaak, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist and writer, who has been imprisoned without trial in Eritrea since 2001 for having published criticism of the Eritrean regime.
The importance of libraries is not only discussed in relation to freedom of speech, but also in relation to children’s reading and education. The Swedish government has just passed a new law making it mandatory for schools to have librarians. The law already stipulates that primary schools must have libraries, but, according to Minister of Schools Lotta Edholm, these libraries are sometimes not much more than “a dusty bookshelf.” From 2025, all schools up to grade nine must have a school library staffed with librarians—an effort to improve deteriorating reading skills among children.
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