[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Novels and Poetry by Authors of Arab/Asian/Moslem/Middle Eastern Descent

[Al Kagan]

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>Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 16:58:06 -0600
>To: Brett Kaplan <brettkap at uclink4.berkeley.edu>,
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>From: Catherine Prendergast <cprender at uiuc.edu>
>Subject: Novels and Poetry by Authors of Arab/Asian/Moslem/Middle
>   Eastern Descent
>Status:  
>
>Someone sent me this, in case anyone is interested in some reading. I think
>it was compiled on the Ford Fellows list originally. -- CP
>
>>>Novels and Poetry by Authors of Arab/Asian/Moslem/Middle Eastern Descent
>>>
>>>This list was compiled from suggestions from scholars, librarians, writers,
>>>and readers; individual comments are preserved.  Because many people
>>>contributed, there may be mistakes of spelling or of other natures. 
>>>
>>>The Crusades through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf which is a compelling view
>>>of the earliest conflicts between Muslims and Christians and especially
>>>interesting now.
>>>
>>>The hidden face of Eve and Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi,  These
>>>are marvelous descriptions of what life can be for women in the Arab World.
>>>   Dr. El Saadawi was health minister in Egypt under Nassar but was jailed
>>>for her feminist views.
>>>
>>>Naomi Shihab-Nye -- poet, Palestinian-American, various titles including
>>>The Words under the Words, Collected Poems
>>>
>>>Hanan al-Shaykh is a modern female Lebanese writer.  Some of her books
>>>include The Story of Zahra, and The Women of Sand and Myrrh.  A very good
>>>feminist perspective. (generally agreed that she is one of the strongest
>>>female Arab voices out there...).
>>>
>>>Taslima Nasrin.  Shame.  About intercommunal violence in Bangladesh.
>>>
>>>Assia Djebar is a feminist Algerian writer (now teaching at NYU in the
>>>French Department) wrting for more than 40 years.  Fantasia, A fictional
>>>work about Algerian women throughout history, Les femmes d'algers dans
>>>leurappartements/Women of Algiers in Their Apartments), she has also made
>>>two movies. She writes alot about the conditions of women in Northern
>>>Africa, politically, socially

>>>
>>>Faiz Ahmed Faiz.  SELECTED POEMS.  This guy is WONDERFUL!!  (Pakistan)
>>>
>>>Fatima Mernissi.  A Moroccan Muslim feminist, she has many books.
>>>
>>>Kateb Yacine.  NEDJMA.  A classic of modern Algerian literature.
>>>
>>>Mahmoud Darwish is considered the great modern national poet of Palestine.
>>>His work is widely available and is also excellent.
>>>
>>>Juan Goytisolo.  QUARANTINE and/or MAKBARA.  A Spanish author who reclaims
>>>the Islamic component of Hispanic culture.
>>>
>>>Ammiel Alcalay.  KEYS TO THE GARDEN.  An anthology of modern Israeli
>>>literature emphasizing the Mizrahi (Sephardic, North African) voices.
>>>
>>>Emile Habiby.  THE LIFE OF SAEED THE PESSOPTIMIST.  A classic satire of
>>>Palestinian life.
>>>
>>>Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun and other short stories is great--about
>>>Palestinian exile/immigrant workers.
>>>
>>>The Cities of Salt Triology by A. Munif about the effects of oil and
>>>foreign intervention on a Gulf oligarchy.
>  >>
>>>Anything by Nobel prize-winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz (Egyptian),
>>>especially The Cairo Trilogy, which looks at the lives of one family over
>>>several political periods in Egypt--Palace Walk, Place of Desire and Sugar
>>>Street (can be purchased as a set for only $21.00 at Amazon)
>>>
>>>Tayib al-Salih's (from Sudan)  Season of Migration to the North is perhaps
>>>my favorite modern Arabic text.  Story of a man incapable of reconciling
>>>the East and West inside him with fatal consequences.  One scholar wrote,
>>>"the best work of (translated, of course) of Arabic fiction I've ever read."
>>>
>>>Admiring Silence by Abdurrazak Gurnah--much less known than the Salih.  But
>>>this novel by a Tanzanian emigré to England of Indian origins deals with
>>>the disappointments of both postcolonial and metropolitan promises with
>>>more even-handed dyspepsia than most works I've seen. Cutting on
>>>race as well.
>>>
>>>Neither East, Nor West by Christaine Bird--though not fiction, it is travel
>>>writing of the high literary merit. An American woman recounts her travels
>>>in Iran, rendering that much demonized society immensely complex,
>>>interesting and human.
>>>
>>>I would recommend the short novel Wife by Bharati Mukherjee. The novel
>>>traces the life of a young woman, Dimples, from Calcutta through an
>>>eventual move to New York. The reader vicariously shares in her hopes about
>>>her arranged mairrage, the move to New York and her and her husband's
>>>transitions to becoming Americans. The couple become friends with other
>>>East Indian immigrants in New York as well as with other Americans.  What
>>>makes the book especially interesting for me as an ethnic woman, is how
>>>Mukherjee conveys the frustrations and stresses of an immigrant woman
>>>through mental and emotional strain.  Mukherjee has also written other
>>>excellent novels, most of them about East Indian women, such as Jasmine.
>>>
>>>Suheir Hammad is a wonderful Brooklyn-based poet and essayist. She has a
>>>book of poetry published under the title Born Palestinian, Born Black, and
>>>a memoir Drops of this Story.
>>>
>>>Yusuf Idris, an Egyptian author, is considered one of the best short story
>>>writers in Arabic.
>>>
>>>Poetry-- Iraqi poet Nazik al-Mala'ika (female) was one of the founders of
>>>Modernist Arabic poetry in Baghdad in the 50's and 60's.
>>>
>>>Tahar Ben Jelloun, recently wrote Cette aveuglante absence de lumiere/This
>>>Blinding Absence of Light
>>>
>>>Another good choice--though lamentably out of print--is ARABESQUES by
>>>Anton Shammas, the only Hebrew novel written by an Israeli (Christian)
>>>Arab: check it out at the library, it's great.....
>>>
>>>You might also want to take a look at Salman Rushdie's collection of
>>>essays, Imaginary Homelands--if that will do more good than harm, at
>>>least....  Other texts:  East, West: Stories, Grimus, Haroun and the Sea of
>>>Stories, Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, The Jaguar Smile: A
>>>Nicaraguan Journey, Midnight's Children, The Moor's Last Sigh, Satanic
>>>Verses, Shame, The Wizard of Oz
>>>
>>>Manthia Diawara, Professor from Mali and Director of NYU's Africana Studies
>>>Program, In Search of Africa, African Cinema: Politics and Culture
>>>
>>>The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology, a beautiful book
>>>containing over 75 poets, edited by Nathalie Handal, 2001 and the publisher
>>>is Interlink Books.  Their website is www.interlinkbooks.com
>>>
>>>Alifa Rifaat is the Egyptian author of Distant View of a Minaret, a fine
>>>collection of short stories.
>>>
>>>Agha Shahid Ali poet from Kashmir just nominated for the National Book
>>>Award.  The Country without a Post Office, The Half-Inch Himalayas, A
>>>Nostalgist's Map of America, The Rebel's Silhouette  (tr.; Faiz Ahmad Faiz)
>>>
>>>Rachlin, Nahid, Somalia, Foreigner, The Heart's Desire, Married to a
>>>Stranger, Veils
>>>
>>>Liyong, Taban lo, Somalia. Another Last Word, Another Nigger Dead: Poems,
>>>Ballads of Underdevelopment: Poems & Thoughts, The Cows of Shambar:
>>>Sudanese Poems, Eating Chiefs: Lwo Culture, Fixions & Other Stories, Frantz
>>>Fanon's Uneven Ribs, Meditations of T~ lo L~, Sir Apolo Kagwa Discovers
>  >>Britain (ed.), The Uniformed Man
>>>
>>>Ali, Ahmed, Pakistan.  Ghalib: Two Essays, Ocean of Night, Of Rats and
>>>Diplomats: A Novel, Quran: A Contemporary Translation  (2nd rev ed.) (tr.),
>>>Selected Poems (1988), Selected Short Stories from Pakistan: Urdu  (ed.),
>>>Twilight in Delhi: A Novel
>>>
>>>Hashmi, Alamgir, Pakistan.  The Worlds of Muslim Imagination  (ed.)
>>>
>>>Sidhwa, Bapsi, Pakistan.  An American Brat, Cracking India: A Novel  [aka
>>>Ice-Candy-Man], The Crow Eaters: A Novel
>>>
>>>Year of the Elephant, by Leila Abouzeid.  A collection of short stories,
>>>deals with women's difficulties in Morocco
>>>
>>>Abdullatif Laabi.  Rue de la Retour  (Readers International has had it
>>>translated.) is Laabi's prison journal. (he was in the slammer for writerly
>>>pursuits.)
>>>

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu