Hassan Blasim: I'm not interested in 'preserving the beauty of the Arabic language'

Here is my guest blog post for ArabLit about the Newcastle launch of Hassan Blasim’s latest collection of short stories, The Iraqi Christ. Despite a notable absence of the actual book, thanks to a blip at the printers, the event was fascinating and challenging, and a wonderful opportunity to hear some of Blasim’s controversial views on politics, religion and Arabic literature. Blasim and Comma Press launched the collection in Manchester last night and are in London at the Mosaic Rooms tonight – not to be missed.