German rights to Yazbek’s ‘In the crossfire: Syrian revolution diaries’ were acquired by Nagel & Kimche, Hanser. The book is expected to be out in March.

French house Buchet-Chastel acquired the rights to Samar Yazbek’s book ‘In the crossfire: Syrian revolution diaries’. The book should be out in the end of March.

Khaled KHALIFA Two days ago, Khaled Khalifa sent me his address below in Arabic. He needed it to be translated into French and English for starters. His aim was for it to reach as many people as possible. Less than 48 hours later, I find his address on @arablit’s blog, and I receive an e-mail from Transworld, his publisher in the UK. I know the internet sometimes makes wonders. But I’m still amazed at his voice being heard!

The novel surprises the reader as soon as page one: Saleh, the poor young man, climbs up the clock tower at the intersection of Boulevard Mohammed V and Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis to announce the resurrection. People gather around the tower, state police is brought in as the scene of the young man hanging in the air occupies the news and the talk of the population.
Through a scenic coherent structure, the novel’s passages follow each other in a mastered montage, using an intense, accurate, language that preserves its beauty, without falling into rhetoric and useless talk.