READ INTERNATIONAL: CURATED READING LISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

"At the end of this year of isolationist fear-mongering, threats of deportation, and the smearing and othering of large swaths of the U.S. population, it has never felt more important to celebrate and share the stories of immigrants in America."

"Although these stories mainly concentrate on the cultural negotiation and identity reformulation that go into attempting to join the American experiment, they also introduce readers to characters from an array of different geographic regions and cultures before they converge on a shared destination."

READ INTERNATIONAL: CURATED READING LISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Another Nobel Prize announcement came and went, and here in Japan, it has become an annual event of holding one’s breath: will he, or will he not, win this year? “He,” of course, refers to Haruki Murakami, and every year, as soon as the winner is announced, there is a collective sigh of disappointment. I am, unfortunately, one of those unpatriotic people who think that Murakami has a slim chance of winning the Nobel. But then, if Bob Dylan can win, maybe he can, too?

READ INTERNATIONAL: CURATED READING LISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Arabic literature finds its home in experimentation. Arabic writers, perhaps less burdened by conformity to “canon,” demonstrate year after year their willingness to take risks with form and subject. Many English-language readers are largely unfamiliar with Arabic literature, partly due to the relative dearth of translation as compared to translation from, say, French. There are a number of ways to begin to span the geographical and cultural distance between English-language readers and Arabic literature in translation. Here, I will focus on one gateway into Arabic literature by reviewing works originally written in Arabic by women.