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Home > Translation > The World Bookshelf > Books > Syria Speaks

Syria Speaks

In Syria, culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny. Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people.

‘Syria Speaks is a remarkable achievement and a remarkable book – a wise, courageous, imaginative and beautiful response to all that is ugly in human behaviour. This extraordinary anthology gives a voice to those we may have forgotten, or whom we may classify as simply passive and silent victims. The people shown living, dreaming and speaking here are far more than victims and only silent if we refuse to hear them.’ A.L. Kennedy

‘An extraordinary collection, revealing a dynamic and exciting culture in painful transition – a culture where artists are really making a difference … You need to read this book.’ Brian Eno

Author

Malu Halasa

Malu Halasa

Books

Syria Speaks

Malu Halasa is an editor and writer based in London. Her books include Creating Spaces of Freedom: Culture in Defiance (2002); Kaveh Golestan: Recording the Truth in Iran (2007); and The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design (2008), with Rana Salam. She co-edits the occasional
book series, Transit, which features new Middle Eastern writing and visual culture, and includes Transit Beirut (2004) and Transit Tehran (2008), the latter co-edited with Maziar Bahari. She co-curated three exhibitions of Syria’s art of resistance in 2012–13 in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London. Her essays, publications, exhibitions and lectures showcase the culture and politics of a complex and changing Middle East.

Zaher Omareen

Zaher Omareen

Books

Syria Speaks

Zaher Omareen is a Syrian researcher and writer who has published articles and short stories in the Arab and English press. His short story ‘First Safety Manoeuvre’ won a prize awarded by the Danish Institute in Damascus and by the 2012 Copenhagen Festival of Literature. He has worked on independent cultural initiatives in Syria and Europe, and co-curated exhibitions on the art of the Syrian uprising. He studied Media, Journalism and Theatrical and Dramatic Arts in Damascus, and holds an MA in Media and Cultural Studies from Sussex University. He is a PhD candidate in Contemporary Documentary Cinema and New Media at Goldsmiths College, London, and is completing Tales of the Orontes River, a collection of short stories drawn from the collective memories of the 1982 Hama massacre.

Nawara Mahfoud

Nawara Mahfoud

Books

Syria Speaks

Nawara Mahfoud is a Syrian freelance journalist who has worked for the New York Times. She blogs for the New Yorker’s website, among other publications. She was a co-curator of the Culture in Defiance exhibition in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London.

Translator

Various

Various

Books

The Book of Khartoum

Thoraya El-Rayyes’ translations have appeared in literary journals/magazines, including World Literature Today and Banipal. In 2014 she received the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award for her translation of Hisham Bustani. Mohammed Ghalaieni was raised bilingually and schooled in Gaza from the age of ten, working on translation projects in New York and Gaza. Sarah Irving is the author and editor of several books, and teaches Arabic at the University of Edinburgh. Elisabeth Jaquette is a graduate student at Columbia University, regularly translates for journals/magazines, and has worked with the PEN World Voices Festival. Andrew Leber is based in Doha, and has translated excerpts of Syrian and Palestinian Literature, including Hani al-Rahib and Atef Abu Saif. Adam Talib teaches classical Arabic literature at the American University in Cairo, and is the translator of Fadi Azzam, Khairy Shalaby and Mekkawi Said, to name a few.

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In Syria, culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny. Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people.

‘Syria Speaks is a remarkable achievement and a remarkable book – a wise, courageous, imaginative and beautiful response to all that is ugly in human behaviour. This extraordinary anthology gives a voice to those we may have forgotten, or whom we may classify as simply passive and silent victims. The people shown living, dreaming and speaking here are far more than victims and only silent if we refuse to hear them.’ A.L. Kennedy

‘An extraordinary collection, revealing a dynamic and exciting culture in painful transition – a culture where artists are really making a difference … You need to read this book.’ Brian Eno

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