Tag: ibtisam-azem

Seeing the author Ibtisam Azem [trans. Sinan Antoon] (2026 {first published in Arabic 2011}) speak of ‘The Sleep Thief’ [Sheffield, etc., And Other Stories] at The People’s Bookshop, Durham: Part Two.

October 15, 2026

In an interview Ibtisam Azem says of The  Sleep Thief that the novel is’fragmented and experimental, with surreal elements, references to Greek mythology, inner voices, the grotesque, and satire. Some of these elements may not sit easily with some readers, … perhaps because they do not expect to encounter them in Palestinian literature, because there … More Seeing the author Ibtisam Azem [trans. Sinan Antoon] (2026 {first published in Arabic 2011}) speak of ‘The Sleep Thief’ [Sheffield, etc., And Other Stories] at The People’s Bookshop, Durham: Part Two.

‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect  him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as the policeman says, a ‘woman’s name’ (it is conventionally so in Arabic) to which, it is implied, he has no right.

October 14, 2026

What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list? View all responses ‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as … More ‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect  him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as the policeman says, a ‘woman’s name’ (it is conventionally so in Arabic) to which, it is implied, he has no right.