A Bird is Not a Stone
Since it has been one of the consuming passions of the last eighteen months of my life, it seems about time that I post something on here about A Bird … Continue reading
New article: Edinburgh exhibits Nakba memorial plans
Electronic Intifada, 10th October 2013 Omar Mohammad is sensitive to the danger that to create a monument to something is to place it in the past, to declare it to … 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 article: Marilyn Booth interviewed
One of the most exciting things about being based at Edinburgh University’s Dept of Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies for the past two years has been people who make up … Continue reading
As if Edinburgh didn’t have enough book temptation…
I heard a rumour at the end of last year that a Middle Eastern specialist bookshop was going to open in Edinburgh. After months of intermittent hovering about on Google, … Continue reading
The Queen of Sheba/Kathleen Jamie
The Scottish Poetry Library has a delightful programme of publishing a set of postcards every six months, each featuring different poems or excerpts from them. One of the first I … Continue reading
New article: Palestinian-Scottish bilingual poetry collection
Electronic Intifada, 1st May 2013 In 2003, Iyad Hayatleh and Tessa Ransford met during a project to introduce Scottish and refugee poets to one another. Hayatleh is a Palestinian “double … Continue reading
‘Perhaps This Poem Has No End’: Reel Iraq in Edinburgh
My guest blog for ArabLit on Saturday’s ‘Found in Translation’ Iraqi/Scottish poetry event at the Scottish Poetry Library: Despite Sabreen Kadhim’s absence, we did get one of her poems, “on … Continue reading
Ibrahim Nasrallah, Edinburgh, 12th March
After a string of depressing things, I just got a very nice press release from the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World in Edinburgh, saying that the … Continue reading
‘Kissing the Moon-Like Face’ at the Filmhouse
It may be a bit sacrilegious to say this, but I’ve never managed to take wholeheartedly to the examples of Iranian cinema I’ve encountered in the UK. I can see … Continue reading
“The sign of a civilisation in collapse”…
… is what husband called this deep-fried Mars bar: Then he ate half of it, and was converted. Deep-frying is now a Sign of Progress.
Arabic-English/English-Arabic poetry book
Reproduced below is a guest post I did for the Arabic Literature (in English) blog on a bilingual poetry book by two Scottish poets – one living in Edinburgh and … Continue reading
The Intoxicating Rose Garden
One of the joys of being a student is the discounts. Not in noisy pubs, but in Edinburgh’s wide range of music and theatrical venues. As has been observed many … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 