For our end-of-year book list, we made up our own categories -- from “best poet I hadn’t heard of before” ” to “best book about cannibalism” to “best book that lived up to the hype” -- and added a few more along the way. It’s a journey through 10 books that struck us and stayed with us this year. 

Show Notes

Best literary cookbook for children (MLQ):Arab Fairy Tale Feasts, Karim al-Rawi, ill. Nahid Kazemi. Read the review by Marcia and her 10-year-old.

Best book I’ve been waiting for years to see published (Ursula): Ahmed Bouanani’s La Septieme Porte, a history of Moroccan cinema from 1907 to 1986. Bouanani was a writer, poet and film-maker who was censored and blacklisted; the manuscript of this book was nearly destroyed in a fire, and was painstakingly put back together by his daughter, Touda Bouanani. 

Best collection of poetry by a poet previously unknown to me (MLQ):Except for This Unseen Thread, Ra’ad Abdulqadir, tr. Mona Kareem, published by Ugly Duckling Presse

Best book I’m reading even if I haven’t gotten far (Ursula): Ahmed Naji’s prison memoir حرز مكمكم; read an excerpt in English translation at the University of Michigan website, translated by Khaled Mattawa.

Best book about cannibalism (MLQ):  Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years, by Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, ed. & tr. Tim Mackintosh Smith

Best book I’ve ordered someone for Christmas (Ursula): The Annotated Arabian Nights, ed. Paulo Lemos Horta, tr. Yasmine Seale

Best gift book for under $20 (MLQ): Midnight in Cairo, by Raphael Cormack, which reminded Marcia of Zeinab Zaza’s “يتامى الإسكندرية,” a historical police procedural set in 1930s Alexandria that focuses on the precarious lives of women.  

Best book that actually lived up to the hype (Ursula):The Book of Sleep, by Haytham al-Wardani, translated by Robin Moger. 

BONUS CATEGORY: Best Arabic-language list in translation in 2021, Seagull Books

Best introduction to a novel (MLQ): Balqis Sharara's introduction to the re-issue of her late sister Hayat Sharara's When Darkness Falls. You can read it, tr. Hend Saeed, on ArabLit.

Best book about the “Syrian refugee crisis” (Ursula):The Wrong End of the Telescope, by Rabih Alameddine 

We also say goodbye to Humphrey Davies (1947-2021). There is a digital memorial in progress at arablit.org/humphrey/.

For our end-of-year book list, we made up our own categories -- from &ldquo;best poet I hadn&rsquo;t heard of before&rdquo; &rdquo; to &ldquo;best book about cannibalism&rdquo; to &ldquo;best book that lived up to the hype&rdquo; -- and added a few more along the way. It&rsquo;s a journey through 10 books that struck us and stayed with us this year.&nbsp;
Show Notes
Best literary cookbook for children (MLQ): Arab Fairy Tale Feasts, Karim al-Rawi, ill. Nahid Kazemi. <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/arab-fairy-tale-feasts-stories-recipes-hungry-young-readers">Read the review by Marcia and her 10-year-old.</a>
Best book I&rsquo;ve been waiting for years to see published (Ursula): Ahmed Bouanani&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lespressesdureel.com/EN/ouvrage.php?id=8441&amp;menu=4">La Septieme Porte</a>, a history of Moroccan cinema from 1907 to 1986. Bouanani was a writer, poet and film-maker who was censored and blacklisted; the manuscript of this book was nearly destroyed in a fire, and was painstakingly put back together by his daughter, Touda Bouanani.&nbsp;
Best collection of poetry by a poet previously unknown to me (MLQ): Except for This Unseen Thread, Ra&rsquo;ad Abdulqadir, tr. Mona Kareem, published by Ugly Duckling Presse
Best book I&rsquo;m reading even if I haven&rsquo;t gotten far (Ursula): Ahmed Naji&rsquo;s prison memoir حرز مكمكم; read <a href="https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2020/11/a-rot-of-evidence-a-journal-of-reading-and-writing-in-prison/">an excerpt in English translation at the University of Michigan website</a>, translated by Khaled Mattawa.
Best book about cannibalism (MLQ):&nbsp; Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years, by Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, ed. &amp; tr. Tim Mackintosh Smith
Best book I&rsquo;ve ordered someone for Christmas (Ursula): The Annotated Arabian Nights, ed. Paulo Lemos Horta, tr. Yasmine Seale
Best gift book for under $20 (MLQ): Midnight in Cairo, by Raphael Cormack, which reminded Marcia of Zeinab Zaza&rsquo;s &ldquo;يتامى الإسكندرية,&rdquo; a historical police procedural set in 1930s Alexandria that focuses on the precarious lives of women.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Best book that actually lived up to the hype (Ursula): The Book of Sleep, by Haytham al-Wardani, translated by Robin Moger.&nbsp;
BONUS CATEGORY: Best Arabic-language list in translation in 2021, Seagull Books
Best introduction to a novel (MLQ): Balqis Sharara's introduction to the re-issue of her late sister Hayat Sharara's When Darkness Falls. <a href="https://arablit.org/2021/01/21/when-darkness-falls-on-the-shortened-brilliant-life-of-iraqi-author-hayat-sharara/">You can read it, tr. Hend Saeed, on ArabLit.</a>
Best book about the &ldquo;Syrian refugee crisis&rdquo; (Ursula): The Wrong End of the Telescope, by Rabih Alameddine&nbsp;
We also say goodbye to Humphrey Davies (1947-2021). There is a digital memorial in progress at <a href="https://arablit.org/humphrey/">arablit.org/humphrey/</a>.

BULAQ is a book-centric podcast co-hosted by Ursula Lindsey (in Amman, Jordan) and M Lynx Qualey (in Rabat, Morocco). It focuses on Arabic literature in translation and is named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820. Produced by Sowt.

BULAQ is a book-centric podcast co-hosted by Ursula Lindsey (in Amman, Jordan) and M Lynx Qualey (in Rabat, Morocco). It focuses on Arabic literature in translation and is named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820. Produced by Sowt.

BULAQ | بولاق

BULAQ is a podcast about contemporary writing from and about the Middle East and North Africa. We talk about books written in Aleppo, Cairo, Marrakech and beyond. We look at the Arab region through the lens of literature, and we look at literature -- what it does, why it matters, how it relates to society and history and politics -- from the point of view of this part of the world.  BULAQ is co-produced by ArabLit and The Arabist and is hosted by Ursula Lindsey and M Lynx Qualey.

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