German     Arabic

The contributors of this edition i.a. are:

Salih Almani

Palestinian translator, who was born in 1949 in Homs/Syria, where he lived until leaving for Spain. There he studied Spanish literature and translated a large number of literary works written by famous Latin American authors, these include Marquis, Allende, Llosa and others. He participated in numerous conferences and led a number of translation workshops at the Cervantes Institute in Damascus. He has received several awards including the Girard de Cremona Prize for Translation.

Laila al-Atrash

A Palestinian-Jordanian writer. Her novels and short story collections have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Italian, Korean, German, and Hebrew. Some of these are taught at Jordanian, French and American universities. Leila al-Atrash was born in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem and has a BA in Law and a Diploma in French. She has published ten novels.

Asmahan Azzouni

Azzuni is head of the public relations department at the Tulkarm Ministry of Education in Palestine. She is also a coordinator of the Karmi Cultural Salon in Tulkarem. She gives new authors, critics and literary groups a forum by organizing panel discussions and readings and makes an important contribution to cultural mediation.

Mohammed Abu l-Fadl Badran

Born in 1959. He studied literature at both South Valley University in Qena and Souhag in Egypt. In 1990 he attained his doctorate at the University of Bonn in Germany, his subject being “Criticism from Abul Ala al-Ma’arri”. After this he was Arabic lecturer at the University of Bochum in Germany and holder of a Humboldt scholarship. He was also a visiting professor at the Universities of Bonn (1994 to 1996) and the United Arab Emirates (1998 to 2006). During his career he was a professor and head of the department for Arabic literature at the University of Qena, becoming vice dean and then dean. In addition to research, he has published several collections of poetry in Arabic and German. He is now retired.

Atta El-Battahani

Atta El-Battahani is Associate Professor of Political Science and Economy. He studied at the University of Khartoum in Sudan and at the University of Sussex in Great Britain. As a scientist and researcher, he published studies regarding federalism, economic development and liberalization also institutional reforms, on the typology of conflicts in Darfur, also on political Islam. Since 2006 he has been Head of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in Sudan. El-Battahani’s writings follow a sober approach.

Abier Bushnaq

Studied English and Arabic literature along with Islamic studies in Bamberg and Bonn. PhD on the historical novel in Egypt. She works as an editor and information specialist at DB Kommunikationstechnik GmbH in Karlsruhe. Since 2004 she has been counselling refugees, also in deportation prisons, and is an active member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought. In 2014 she was awarded the Integration Prize of Karlsruhe. She was Chairman of the Literary Circle for Creative Writing in Karlsruhe 2015-2018 and is a translator and artist.

Nabil Bushnaq

Nabil Bushnaq, born 1940 in Ramleh, Palestine (today Israel). Founder of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought in Germany and its first chairman. He obtained his school leaving certificate in Cairo. Between 1957 and 1964 he studied medicine in both Münster and Freiburg/Germany. After becoming a doctor he practiced gynaecology in both Germany and the Arab world. He was an essential contributor for founding the blood bank in Nablus and was socially involved in the association Friends of An-Najah University. He is particularly interested in the development of democratic thought and modernization within the Arab world.

Mahmoud Choucair

born 1941 in Jerusalem. In 1965 he earned a BA in Philosophy and Sociology from Damascus University. He was editor-in-chief of several Arab newspapers and magazines and worked as a cultural editor for numerous Palestinian and Jordanian literary events. He has published over 45 works, including short stories, biographies, also stories for children, as well as the afore mentioned he has written 4 plays and 6 television series. His stories have been translated into several languages ​​and his literary works been the subject of several academic treatises.

Rawan Damen

Palestinian film producer and media consultant. She holds a master’s degree in communications from the University of Leeds, UK, also a BA in media and sociology from Birzeit University, Palestine. She received numerous awards for her documentaries. She is also an accomplished film maker producing 25 Arabic documentaries and reports that have been translated into many languages. She is the co-author of three books: “The Children of Palestine from Before”, “History in the Memory of Childhood” and “Our Schools in the Cage of Accusation”.

Faisal Darraj

Faisal Darraj is a Palestinian literary critic. He has published several books on literary theory and criticism, including Bu’s al-thaqafa fi al-mu’asasah al-falestiniyeh (The Misery of Culture in the Palestinian Establishment). He is considered one of the most important Arab literary critics of the modern age. He resides in both Damascus and Amman.

Khairy Mohamed Douma

Professor of Modern Arabic Literature at Cairo University. He was a lecturer for Arabic language at Osaka University in Japan between 2000 to 2004. He then became deputy director for the National Centre for Translation in Cairo between 2011-2013. Since then he has been director of the Cairo University Center of Arabic Language and Culture. After this he was deputy editor-in-chief of Fusul Magazine between 2014 and 2015. He also contributed to the translations of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Literary Criticism. His works include studies on contemporary genre theories (one in collaboration with Tzvetan Todorov) as well as a study on Saad Mekkawi’s short stories.

Mansoura Ezz Eldin

Egyptian writer and journalist, who was born in 1976 and has published several novels that has been translated into many languages. She was selected as a participant in the Beirut39 Festival which collaborated with the famous Hay Festival in the UK. She works as an editor for the magazine “Akhbar al-Adab”. Her novel “Emerald Mountain” won the Sharjah Book Fair Prize in 2014 and her novel “The Path to Madness” won a prize in the Cairo Book Fair in the same year.

Hamid Fadlalla

Born 1936 in Omdurman/Sudan, he is a medical specialist and a human rights activist. He is a founding member of OMRAS, an organization in Germany that campaigns for human rights in Arab countries. He is also a founding member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought and was a board member of trustees of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Cairo. He writes short stories and his essays focus on questions such as immigration and integration within German society.

Hartmut Fähndrich

Is a German translator, who was born in 1944. He specialises in translating Arabic literature into German. This he has been doing for over 30 years and has brought the characters of over 60 Arabic novels to life in the German language. He has introduced many authors to the Western World, including: Ghassan Kanafani, Naguib Mahfouz, Sahar Khalifa, Ibrahim al-Koni, Gamal al-Ghitani, Alaa al-Aswani.

Khalid Mohamed Farah

As well as being a writer he was also a Sudanese diplomat, researcher and translator. As well as translating he published a number of his own books and dozens of essays in humanities. He was the ambassador both in Senegal and France and currently the ambassador in Angola. He is multilingual speaking several languages, Arabic, English, French and basic Portuguese. He is a member of a number of cultural, scientific and professional associations within and outside of Sudan.

Fadia Foda

A Palestinian born in Lebanon. She is a social worker who is engaged in the field of refugee relief and integration. She is translator and author of numerous research papers and studies on the topics of migration and integration within Germany. She was a board member of the General Union of Palestinian Women in Lebanon and is an active member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought. She has translated many essays from Arabic into German and published several studies.

Salam Kawakibi

A Syrian writer and researcher. He was the former director of the Institut français du Proche-Orient in Aleppo, Syria. He became a university teacher at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, also an Associate Researcher at the ARI (Arab Reform Initiative). He is the youngest grandson of the reformist Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi. Salam Kawakibi has several degrees in economics, international relations and political science, these were retained in Syrian universities and from Aix-en-Provence University in France. He has focussed on human rights, civil society, immigration, media and political reforms in the Arab world and has published many scientific articles.

Hassan Khader

Is a Palestinian writer and literary critic, born in Gaza in 1953. He is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine al-Karmel. He studied English literature and translated several books into Arabic. His best-known publications include Ard al-ghazallah “Land of the Deer” (2003) and Hawiyyat al-akhar (The Identity of the Other, 1997). He won the Palestinian Prize for Literature and Art in 1997. He currently resides in both Germany and Palestine.

Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al-Hajin

An Egyptian writer, who graduated from the Department of History at Tanta University in Egypt. Obtaining his master’s in Comparative religious studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, he became a research assistant at the Forum for Arab and International Relations in Qatar. He is currently living in Istanbul. He describes himself as well-read in history and literature. Many articles have been written by him including book reviews as well as essays on cultural topics. He has his own blog.

Alnoor Hamad

Is a Sudanese academic and researcher. He has written many valuable publications, which include politics, culture and literature, he excelled in using cultural instruments as an approach to determining social disease patterns. As well as being a writer he is also a caricaturist and photographer. He studied at the Academy of Fine and Applied Arts. Many of his works have been considered very provocative.

Aref al-Hijjawi

Is a Palestinian writer, who was born in Nablus in 1956. Working in education and media, first as a radio journalist and manager in the Arab section at the BBC in London, then at Birzeit University in Palestine, where he was appointed director of radio training at the media center, afterwards becoming director of the center for six years. His achievement also include being editor-in-chief of the newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadidah and program director of the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel in Qatar and, until 2017, director of editorial standards within the channel’s quality control.

Ahmed al-Madini

Born 1949 in Berrechid, which is in Morocco. Attaining a diploma in Arabic language and literature atthe University of Fes in 1987, he then achieved his doctorate in literature at the University of Sorbonne/Paris in 1990. He is a writer and critic and is currently a university professor. He has a number of publications, including Mamarr as-safsaf (The Willow Passage), which was shortlisted in 2015 for the “International Prize for Arabic Fiction”.

Mohamed Mahmoud

A Sudanese academic, researcher and writer, born in 1950. He taught at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Khartoum, and the Institute of Oriental Studies at Oxford University, also at the University of Tafze in the USA, where he was head of the Department of Comparative Religious Studies. He has published many articles, the most important of which is his study on the thoughts of the Sudanese Sufi thinker Mahmoud Muhammad Taha and his book “Muhammad’s Prophecy, History and Construction”.

Ibrahim Malik

He is both a writer and poet and comes from Palestine. Studying economics in Germany and mainly writes about society and politics. He was the editor-in-chief of a number of political and literary magazines, including Fasl al-maqal, Mais li-l-thaqafa al-aqlaniyya, and Kitabuna kitabuna. In addition to this, he wrote his own collections of poetry and literary works.

Ali al-Muqri

Was born in Taizz, Yemen in 1966. He is a journalist and writer, who became known for his book on alcohol and Islam. He campaigns for the interests of religious and social minorities, an engagement that resulted in a fatwa being pronounced against him, this included subsequent death threats. Al-Muqri became editor-in-chief of al-Ḥikmah, the magazine of the Yemeni Writers Association, in 1997. From 2007 he became editor of the literary magazine Ghaymān. He currently lives in Paris. His novels include: “Black Taste, Black Odour”, “The Handsome Jew”, “Woman”, “Adeni Incense”. Some of his novels have been translated into French, English, Italian, Kurdish.

Habib Abdulrab Sarori

Yemeni writer, who was born 1956 in Aden, he resides and works in France. He is currently professor in the Mathematical and Software Engineering Department at Rouen and also at INSA de Rouen. He was shaped by his father, who was a very learned man with a constant quest for knowledge. Habib began writing poetry at an early age, the first appearing in Al-Hikma magazine in 1970, at the age of 14. He has published several novels, short stories and a collection of poetry, some novels were longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Khalil Shaikh

Professor of Arabic Literature of Yarmouk University in Jordan, he is a researcher, critic and translator. He received his doctorate in comparative literature in 1986 from the University of Bonn/Germany and worked as a visiting professor at several universities. He has written more than 25 academic studies, including essays in comparative literature, criticism, also biographies, and he has made a name for himself translating studies and essays from the German language.

Ibrahim al-Sha’er Zaqout

Is from Tulkarm/Palestine, he was born in 1948. Before his studies at the Pedagogical Institute in Ramallah he gained many experiences along with various jobs, a few examples being employed as a waiter, working on a construction site, also in factories. He also spent some time in an Israeli prison. He believes these experiences amongst others opened his horizons and helped to develop his character. Later on he became a teacher and eventually the director of the Tulkarm Library (1972-2010). Now in retirement he spends a lot of time reading and writing poetry, which he loves.