Books

Evelyn Shakir: Memoirs of an Arab-American Writer, Teacher, and Humanist

By 
By Lynne Rogers

 The World lost a great writer, teacher, scholar, and humanist when Arab-American Evelyn Shakir finally succumbed to breast cancer in 2010. Fortunately, Shakir bequeathed a rich literary legacy to her students, family, and admirers, one that reached its pinnacle with the publication of her final book, "Teaching Arabs, Writing Self, Memoirs of an Arab-American Woman," which is reviewed by Lynne Rogers for Al Jadid. The work documents her experiences growing up as a Lebanese American, as well as her adventures teaching abroad in Lebanon, Bahrain, and Damascus. Interesting characters, observations, and experiences, all related in her gentle, humorous, and often ironic style, make this book one readers will not want to miss. Shakir avoids the pitfalls of being overly didactic through the simple but profound expediency of revealing the social history and politics of each particular moment through a wealth of human interaction.

Teaching Arabs, Writing Self, Memoirs of an Arab-American Woman
By Evelyn Shakir
Olive Branch Press. 2014. 170 pp.  

Living with voices: magical realism in war-torn Iran

By Lynne Rogers

This riveting story will hold the reader spellbound as Ravanipur employs magical realism to illuminate the searing realities of life in war-torn Iran. Afsaneh Sarboland can remember little about her reasons for fleeing her home and husband in the middle of the night, and must deal with the unjust assumptions and indictments of Iranian patriarchy. Driven to the point of madness by abuse and the devastating Iran-Iraq War, the embattled woman must also come to terms with her personal demons, who have taken on internal lives and personalities of their own. In a world gone mad, Ravanipur skillfully leads her readers to the startling conclusion that Afsaneh’s internal dialogs represent a peculiar form of sanity, appropriate to the realities of her family and country. 

The Historical Novel Revived

By Wided Khadraoui
 
Tree of Pearls, Queen of Egypt
By Jurji Zaydan
Syracuse University Press, 2012
 
The “Tree of Pearls, Queen of Egypt” by Jurji Zaydan was originally published in 1914 and was recently translated and released in English by Samah Selim, an assistant professor at Rutgers University.
Section 
Books

Narratives of Immigration

By Lynne Rogers
 
Immigrant Narratives, Orientalism and Cultural Translation in Arab American and Arab British Literature
By Wail Hassan
Oxford University Press, 2011
 
Wail S. Hassan’s “Immigrant Narratives, Orientalism and Cultural Translation in Arab American and Arab British Literature” covers approximately 100 years of Arab-Anglophone writing.
Section 
Books

'Meanderings' Through Turkey

By Frances Khirallah Noble
 
Meander
By Jeremy Seal
Bloomsbury, 2012
 
“Meander” is a travel guidebook that has everything –historical background, colorful local folk, cultural perspective, captivating description, beautiful writing – and yet lacks certain expected elements; it contains no hotel rates, no shopping guides, no airline schedules, and no tips for tourists.
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Books

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