From Ajdabiya to Rome
Najwa Bin Shatwan on her geographic and writerly journey. Translated by Sawad Hussain.
Arabic
Arabic – PEN Transmissions
The Epoch of Human Shame: An Interview with Samar Yazbek
Samar Yazbek on conflict, imagination and literature in Syria. Translated by Leri Price.
It’s all in a name
Co-written by Ensaf Haidar and Andrea C. Hoffmann, translated from German by Shaun Whiteside.
January 25th: from a revolution, to a conspiracy, to a forbidden call
Five years on from the historic events of Tahrir Square, writer and psychiatrist Basma Abdel Aziz reflects on the many names of the Egyptian revolution, and her hopes for the future.
To speak or not to speak, that is the question
Boualem Sansal charts the history of Algeria and how it ties into the history of free expression in his country
Life in War
Nayrouz Qarmout follows her short story for PEN Atlas with a gripping diary piece from the heart of the conflict in Gaza
Syria – the betrayed uprising
Samar Yazbek, journalist, author and winner of an English PEN Writers in Translation award, turns our attention back to Syria, the cynicism of the regime, the influence of outside powers, and how these combine at a great cost to the people.
Written in blood: The beginnings of a new Syrian society
In a moving piece for PEN Atlas, Khaled Khalifa writes about the hypocrisy of the intelligentsia, the context of the Syrian revolution, and the task of imagining the world that will come after.
PEN Atlas Q&A – Hassan Blasim, author of The Iraqi Christ
PEN Atlas editor Tasja Dorkofikis interviews Hassan Blasim about his new collection of short stories, The Iraqi Christ, winner of a 2012 Writers in Translation award, his experience of censorship, and the importance of cinema for his work
Dispatch from Syria: Capturing the Truth
Following on from her piece for the English PEN magazine, Samar Yazbek describes the dangerous, often fatal struggle of capturing the truth of the Syrian revolution
