The Banipal Trust for Arab Literature will reach its 12th year in September.
In addition to the prize activity of our article, readers in the London area will want to know about an inaugural lecture in what’s planned to be an annual event funded by Omar Saif Ghobash and family. “Blind Spots: A Millennium of Arabic in Translation—From Ibn Al-Haytham to William Faulkner to Don Quixote” is scheduled to be given by Palestinian author, translator, and University of Michigan professor Anton Shammas at 7 p.m. on October 14 at the British Library Conference Center.—Porter Anderson
By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2
‘To Speak for Themselves to a Global Readership’
The Banipal Trust for Arab Literature has announced that 19 eligible entries for the 2016 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation: 17 fiction titles and two poetry.The trust was founded in September 2004 by the publisher of Banipal magazine. The goal is to promote the publication of Arab authors in English translation and live literature events in the UK.
The titles under consideration are:
- Confessions by Rabee Jaber, translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid (New Directions, USA)
- The Bride of Amman by Fadi Zaghmout, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Signal 8 Press, Hong Kong)
- Desert Sorrows by Tayseer al-Sboul, translated by Nesreen Akhtarkhavari and Anthony A. Lee (Michigan State University Press, USA)
- My Torturess by Bensalem Himmich, translated by Roger Allen (Syracuse University Press, USA)
- Hurma by Ali al-Muqri, translated by T.M. Aplin (Darf Publishers, UK)
- Ebola ’76 by Amir Tag Elsir, translated by Charis Bredin and Emily Danby (Darf Publishers, UK)
- 32 by Sahar Mandour, translated by Nicole Fares (Syracuse University Press, USA)
- The Automobile Club of Egypt by Alaa Al Aswany, translated by Russell Harris (Canongate, UK)
- Ali and his Russian Mother by Alexandra Chreiteh, translated by Michelle Hartman (Interlink Publishing, USA)
- Telepathy by Amir Tag Elsir, translated by William M Hutchins (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, Qatar)
- The Scarecrow by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated by William M. Hutchins (CMES, University of Texas at Austin, USA)
- A Portal in Space by Mahmoud Saeed, translated by William M. Hutchins (CMES, University of Texas at Austin, USA)
- All Faces but Mine by Samih al-Qasim, translated by Abdulwahid Lu‘lu‘a (Syracuse University Press, USA)
- Mortal Designs by Reem Bassouiney, translated by Melanie Magidow (AUC Press, Egypt/USA)
- The Dust of Promises by Ahlem Mostaghanemi, translated by Nancy Roberts (Bloomsbury Publishing, UK)
- Whitefly by Abdelilah Hamdouchi, translated by Jonathan Smolin (Hoopoe Fiction, Egypt/USA)
- The Holy Sail by Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud, translated by Karim Traboulsi (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, Qatar)
- The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi, translated by Jonathan Wright (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, Qatar)
- The Televangelist by Ibrahim Essa, translated by Jonathan Wright (Hoopoe Fiction, Egypt/USA)
‘Deepening and Enriching the Cultural Dialogue’
The award is aimed at “deepening and enriching the cultural dialogue” between the Arab world and the West, singling out Europe and North America for special consideration.
To achieve its goal, the trust supports English translations of contemporary Arab authors and publication of Banipal three times per year. Additionally, live literature events promote Banipal issues and Arab authors.
In its literature, the trust writes that Arab literature “is an essential part of world culture and human civilisation, and it is through literary translation that these works of contemporary Arab literature become accessible to the widest possible audience, can take their rightful place in world literature and speak for themselves to a global readership.”
The date for an announcement of the winner has not yet been made public.
Publishing Perspectives hopes you’ll want to #namethetranslator whenever writing or talking about translated literature, so that translators receive the credit they deserve for their work in world literature.