Below is an excerpt of a piece Khaled Khalifa wrote for Corriere della sera, March 2016
During my trip from Damascus to Boston, I found myself reflecting on Syria, giving it one last look. I imagined it calm, and strong; it made me think of so many things. Before leaving it for a whole year, I needed to express all these feelings. I am convinced that, despite the huge amount of destruction, Syria, my country, can still elicit an avalanche of positive adjectives.

This article was written by Heba Saleh for the Financial Times. Only a few excerpts are featured below. For the full article, please refer to the Financial Times‘ website. Published on October 6th 2015.
Photo credit: The Guardian, Sedat Suna
As the Arab world grapples with unrest across many of its countries, the Arab novel, a form that has undergone something of a revival in recent years, has found inspiration in the region’s political cataclysms. A powerful style of fiction has emerged that probes subjects relating to freedom, violence, identity, religion and the failure …

Woerdense Courant, May 27th, 2015
“Whoever thinks of the events in Syria in the recent years sees  horror images speed by. In this novel, it becomes very personal. The unnamed narrator brings the reader close to the worries of his family in Aleppo, while the political situation barely lurks in the background (…). Sometimes chaotic, [the novel is] always incisive.”

Der Standaard, March 27 2015
“Khalifa’s family chronicle is straightforward and very structured. We never have enough of the recent history it covers, and the sometimes bizarre characters that filled the ancient streets of the Syrian city [of Aleppo].”

A review by Margot Djikgraaf, for NRC Handelsblad, April 22, 2015
“Characters are staged at a breakneck pace, disappear and reappear, while previously described events come along again, as if in a spiral that will make the reader lose grip of the story, and feeling the ground fall from under her feet. This is exactly Khalifa’s purpose. This is the life of Aleppo’s residents”

For those new to the reading groups, And Other Stories is a fantastic independent UK publisher, and one way they select fiction to translate and publish is through reading groups. The groups help AOS get feedback from savvy readers, by reading as-of-yet untranslated novels, discussing them online and in person, and helping AOS pick what to publish.
 
One great part about the group is that it’s open to people who read in Arabic and people who don’t.
 
 
 
The And Other Stories Arabic reading group is back for a second round this winter, …