New article: Palestinian artist John Halaka interviewed
Electronic Intifada, 30th August 2013 “I’ve faced quite a few problems, resistance to my work. In the US, if an artist makes work that addresses the Palestinian situation — and … Continue reading
New review: ‘Though I know the river is dry’
Electronic Intifada, 28th August 2013 Though I Know The River Is Dry is a short (just shy of twenty minutes), atmospheric and elegant work by British/Egyptian filmmaker Omar Robert Hamilton. … Continue reading
Leila Khaled biog: Arabic edition
Yesterday I got sent a cover scan of the Arabic edition of my biography of Leila Khaled. It’s published by Al Muassasah Al Arabiya lil Dirasat wal Nashr in Beirut, … Continue reading
Rant of the week: academic book pricing
Meet the current object of my affections: This little hottie is Like Joseph in Beauty, a book on a Yemeni poetry form called Humayni. Fairly obscure stuff, I grant you, … Continue reading
Poetry from Iraq and Scotland
Sabreen Kadhim, a young poet from Baghdad who very much dispels any myths linking poetry with dowdiness and cardigans, was supposed to appear at Reel Iraq earlier this year. However, … Continue reading
‘Head over Heels in Saudi Arabia’ at Edinburgh Fringe
Head Over Heels in Saudi Arabia is a one-woman show by Maisah Sobahi, in her day-job a lecturer at a university in Jeddah and now the first ever Saudi performer … Continue reading
‘Anna’ at the Edinburgh Fringe, Summerhall
At the end of this evening, a mild-mannered man called Keith came up to me as I was unlocking my bike from the Summerhall railings and asked me what I … Continue reading
New review: ‘A World Not Ours’
ReOrient, 5th August 2013 Bassem – or ‘Abu Iyad’, as he is so called – is Fleifel’s best friend, nicknamed after the Fatah military commander assassinated by Israeli commandos in … Continue reading
New review: Raba’i al-Madhoun’s The Lady from Tel Aviv
Electronic Intifada, 2nd August 2013 The novel uses the account of this return journey as a framing device for his life story, told with a perceptive wit and verve which … Continue reading
Castration and sticky-back plastic
Now THIS is how you get web impressions, retweets and Facebook shares for an article which is, essentially, about medieval economics. You use a title like “Vikings raided monasteries to … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 