Library of Arabic Literature

Last updated

Library of Arabic Literature offers Arabic editions and English translations of significant works of Arabic literature from the seventh to nineteenth centuries. [1] The series' aim is "to revive and reintroduce classic Arabic literature to a whole new generation of Arabs and non-Arabs, and make it more accessible and readable to everyone," [2] as very little of the corpus of Arabic literature from this period is available to an English-speaking audience. [3] The books are edited and translated by distinguished scholars of Arabic and Islam from around the world.

Contents

The series publishes each book in a hardcover parallel-text format, with Arabic and English on facing pages, as well as in English-only paperbacks and free downloadable Arabic PDFs. For some texts, the series also publishes separate scholarly editions with full critical apparatus. [1] Genres include poetry and prose, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history, and travel writing. [2]

The Library of Arabic Literature is published by NYU Press and supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute. [1]

The first volume was published in December 2012. [2]

Publications

As of 2018, the Library of Arabic Literature has published more than thirty bilingual hardcover edition-translations and more than a dozen English-only paperbacks. [4] Arabic-only PDFs are also available for download from the website for free.

Its award-winning edition-translations include Leg Over Leg by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, edited and translated by Humphrey Davies, which was shortlisted for the American Literary Translators Association's 2016 National Translation Award [5] and longlisted for the 2014 Best Translated Book Award, organized by Open Letter; [6] Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal by Ibn al-Jawzi, edited and translated by Michael Cooperson, [7] which won the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding in 2016; The Epistle of Forgiveness by Al-Ma'arri, edited and translated by Geert Jan van Gelder and Gregor Schoeler, which won the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding in 2015; [8] and Impostures by al-Hariri, edited and translated by Michael Cooperson, which won the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Translation Category, shortlisted for the 2021 National Translation Award, was a Finalist for the 2021 PROSE Award in the Literature category, and was on The Wall Street Journal's list of Top 10 Books of the Year.

List of Editorial Board Members [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adonis (poet)</span> Syrian poet, writer and translator (born 1930)

Ali Ahmad Said Esber, also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis, is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. Maya Jaggi, writing for The Guardian stated "He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, "exerting a seismic influence" on Arabic poetry comparable to T.S. Eliot's in the anglophone world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Grigore</span>

George Grigore or Gheorghe Grigore is a Romanian writer, essayist, translator, professor and researcher in Middle Eastern studies.

Cyrus R. K. Patell is a literary and cultural critic who writes and teaches on World literature with a focus on US literature. He is currently Professor of English at New York University (NYU) and Global Network Professor of Literature at New York University Abu Dhabi, where he previously served as Associate Dean of Humanities.

al-Hariri of Basra Arab poet and scholar (1054–1122)

Al-Hariri of Basra was a poet belonging to the Beni Harram tribe of Bedouin Arabs, who lived and died in the city of Basra, modern Iraq. He was a scholar of the Arabic language and a dignitary of the Seljuk Empire, which ruled Iraq during his lifetime, from 1055 to 1135.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reem Bassiouney</span> Egyptian writer

Reem Bassiouney is an Egyptian author, professor of sociolinguistics and Chair Department of Applied Linguistics at The American University in Cairo. In Addition, Bassiouney is the editor of the Routledge Series of Language and Identity. She is also the editor and creator of the journal Arabic Sociolinguistics Edinburgh. She has written several novels and a number of short stories and won the 2009 Sawiris Foundation Literary Prize for Young Writers for her novel Dr. Hanaa. While a substantial amount of her fiction has yet to be translated into English, her novel The Pistachio Seller was published by Syracuse University Press in 2009, and won the 2009 King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Translation of Arabic Literature Award. Bassiouney also won Naguib Mahfouz Award from Egypt's Supreme Council for Culture in the best Egyptian novel category for her best selling novel, The Mamluk Trilogy. She was also the winner of the National Prize for Excellence in Literature of the year 2022 from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Bassiouney won Sheikh Zaid Literature Award for her novel Al Halwani: The Fatimid Trilogy in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zaki Nusseibeh</span> Minister in the United Arab Emirates

Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh is the Cultural Advisor to the President of the UAE and the Chancellor of UAE University. He has been active in government service in the United Arab Emirates since its formation in 1971, and with the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi since 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Bader</span> Iraqi Belgian writer

Ali Bader is an Iraqi novelist and a script writer, regarded as the most significant writer to emerge in Arabic world in the last decade. author of eighteen works of fiction, and several works of non-fiction. His best-known works include Papa Sartre, The Tobacco Keeper, The Running after the Wolves, and The Sinful Woman, several of which have won awards. His novels are quite unlike any other fictions in Arabic world of our day, as they blend character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, and explicit language. Bader was born in Baghdad, where he studied western philosophy and French literature. He now lives in Brussels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American University in Cairo Press</span> Academic publisher

The American University in Cairo Press is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East.

Nabaṭī, historically also known as najdi, is a vernacular Arabic poetry that stems from the Arabic varieties of the Arabian Peninsula. It exists in contrast to the poetry written according to the classical rules of literary Arabic.

Nouri al-Jarrah is a Syrian-British poet and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Zayed Book Award</span> Annual book award

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab cultural, literary and social life." The first award was in 2007. The total value of the prizes is DH 7,000,000 making it one of the richest literary awards in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Issa J. Boullata</span> Palestinian scholar and writer (1929–2019)

Issa J. Boullata was a Palestinian scholar, writer, and translator of Arabic literature.

New York University Abu Dhabi is a degree granting portal campus of New York University, serving as a private liberal arts college located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi</span> Egyptian poet and publisher

Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi was an Egyptian Romantic poet, publisher, medical doctor, bacteriologist and bee scientist.

The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding is a Qatari literary award for translation from and to Arabic. The total value of the award is $2 million. It is named in honor of Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 to 2013. It is among the world's richest literary prizes for translation.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press is a publishing house based in Doha, Qatar. The press was initially managed by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC and was founded as Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) in 2008 until its transition into HBKU Press in 2015. HBKU Press is part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University which is under the wider community of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. It publishes titles that serve both an international audience as well as the larger Arab community publishing fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's literature, and academic titles. They highlight local Middle Eastern and Qatari narratives and also translate books from other foreign languages into Arabic.

Tsvetan Theophanov, is a Bulgarian orientalist, author and university professor who is noted for his research and translations of Islamic religious books and Classical Arabic literature.

Hussain Al Mutawaa is a Kuwaiti writer, poet, literary critic and a photographer who was born in 1989. He published two novels and two short stories. In 2019, his short story "I Dream of Being a Cement Mixer" won Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Child Literature and which was translated into English, French, Ukrainian and Italian. Before turning to stories and novels, Al Mutawaa started his literary career in literature as a poet in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habib Al Sayegh</span> Emirati writer and poet (1955–2019)

Habib Yousef Abdullah Al Sayegh was an Emirati poet and writer. He was born in Abu Dhabi and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1977, as well as a Master’s degree in Comparative Linguistics and Translation in 1998 from the University of London. He worked in the fields of media and culture, as he was the Editor-in-Chief of Al Khaleej Newspaper. He was the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Writers Union, and the first Khaliji to become Secretary-General of the Arab Writers Union.

Adil Babikir is a Sudanese literary critic and translator into and out of English and Arabic. He has translated several novels, short stories and poems by renowned Sudanese writers and edited the anthology Modern Sudanese Poetry. He lives and works in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About the Library of Arabic Literature". Library of Arabic Literature. 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  2. 1 2 3 Rym Ghazal (December 22, 2012). "Arabic literary treasures given new life". TheNational. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  3. Staff writer (December 14, 2012). "NYUAD's Library of Arabic Literature Releases First Publication". WAM. Emirates News Agency. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  4. "Our Books". Library of Arabic Literature. 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  5. "Announcing the 2016 NTA Shortlists in Poetry and Prose!". ALTA Blog. 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  6. "BTBA 2014 Fiction Longlist: It's Here! «  Three Percent". www.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  7. "Professor Cooperson wins the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation - Near Eastern Languages & Cultures - UCLA". Near Eastern Languages & Cultures - UCLA. 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  8. "Hamad Translation Award". Hamad Translation Award. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  9. "People". Library of Arabic Literature. 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2018-07-26.