4 EDITORIAL 5 Ashur Etwebi – Six Poems, translated by Khaled Mattawa 10 Rabee Jaber – Excerpt from the novel Druze of Belgrade:

Hanna Yacoub’s Story, translated by Nancy Roberts 26 Ali Bader – An excerpt from the novel The Tobacco Keeper,

translated by Amira Nowaira 32 Alexandra Chreiteh – An excerpt from the novel Always

Coca Cola, translated by Michelle Hartman 42 Amir Tag Elsir – Chapters from the novel The Larvae Hunter,

translated by William M Hutchins 53 ARABIC WRITERS IN SWEDEN 54 Salim Barakat – An excerpt from the novel Rampaging

Geese, translated by Thomas Aplin 70 Manhal Alsarraj – An excerpt from the novel As the River

Must, translated by Ghenwa Hayek 76 Faraj Bayrakdar – A Poem, translated by Camilo Gomez-

Rivas 83 Jalil Haydar – Four Poems, translated by Allison Blecker 88 Mohammad Afif al-Hussaini – Two Poems, translated by

Robin Moger 92 Nassif al-Nassiri – Five Poems, translated by John Peate 96 Sabri Youssef – A short story The Sweetness of Laughter,

translated by Ghenwa Hayek 98 Farouq Salloum – Two poems, translated by John Peate 101 Jonas Hassen Khemiri – Vanya Knows, a short story translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles 104 Johanna Sellman – on Jonas Hassen Khemiri 108 CELEBRATING ADONIS 108 V.S. Naipaul – A Master of our Times 110 Adonis – from “Concerto for Jerusalem”, translated by

Khaled Mattawa 115 Abdo Wazen – Adonis’s Concerto 117 Joachim Sartorius – Citizen of the world 118 Yang Lian – Poetry will save us

2 BANIPAL 41 – SUMMER 2011 121 Roger Allen – A genuine modernity 122 Khaled Mattawa – On the road with Adonis 125 Hassouna Mosbahi – Between Goethe and Adonis 128 Hassan Najmi – Adonis the Lighthouse 130 Aziz Shaibani – Adonis in Texas 134 Stephen Watts – The Human is the Poetry of the Universe 141 GUEST LITERATURE – SLOVENIA 142 Mojca Pišek – Introducing five Slovenian poets 145 Uroš Zupan – Two poems 148 Jure Jacob – Two poems 150 Katja Perat – A poem 152 Primož Čučnik – Two poems 154 Veronika Dintinjana – A poem 156 Gabriela Babnik – Six stories from society’s margins 159 Feri Lainsček – The Untouchables 164 Dušan Šarotar – Billards at Hotel Dobray 170 Jani Virk – A View of Tycho Brahe 180 Polona Glavan – The Unusual Identity of Nina B. 185 Vesna Lemaić – The Dumping Ground 191 Gabriela Babnik – In the Tall Grass BOOK REVIEWS 198 Mona Zaki: A Palace in the Old Village by Tahar Ben Jelloun 200 André Naffis-Sahely: Beer in the Snooker Club by Waguih

Ghali 203 Susannah Tarbush: I Shall Not Hate by Isseldin Abuelaish 206 Olivia Snaije: Bye Bye Babylone by Lamia Ziadé 208 Mona Zaki: Spectres by Radwa Ashour 210 Norbert Hirshhorn: Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa 213 BOOKS IN BRIEF EVENT 221 London: Ramsey Nasr at World Literature Weekend 222 CONTRIBUTORS LAST PAGE 224 Hamdy el-Gazzar – Letter from Cairo For subscription information, go to page 212

Banipal, founded in 1998, takes its name from Ashurbanipal, last great king of Assyria and patron of the ar ts, whose outstanding achievement was to assemble in Nineveh, from all over his empire, the fir st systematically organised librar y in the ancient Middle East. The thousands of clay tablets of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian writings included the famous Mesopotamian epics of the Creation, the Flood, and Gilgamesh, many folk tales, fables, proverbs, prayers and omen texts.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

BANIPAL 41 – SUMMER 2011 3