Banipal 59 – The Longlist is packed with fiction and features for summer reading, including chapters from eight new novels on the longlists of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction; Sudanese novelist Amir Tag Elsir writing on his Literary Influences in “I pawned my Rolex to publish my first book”; chapters from Goat Mountain, the forgotten 30-year-old debut novel of Tunisian author Habib Selmi; all there is to know about “Arabic Literature in Russia” in a fascinating, illustrated essay by Russian Arabist Viktoria Zorytovskaya.
The Guest Literature spot is given over to the “incorruptible voice” of the great Spanish poet Angel Guinda, with introduction and poems translated by Peter Bush. Plus book reviews, event reports and a new Banipal Photo Album section.