Banipal
Encyclopedia
Banipal is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London
in 1998 by Margaret Obank
and Samuel Shimon
. The magazine is published three times a year. Since its inception, it has published works and interviews of numerous Arab authors and poets, many of them translated for the first time into English. It is also co-sponsor of the Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
As of February 2011, 39 issues of Banipal have been published. Each issue usually centres around a specific theme, recent issues focusing on Libyan
fiction, Arab American
authors, Iraqi
authors, Literature in Yemen
Today, Writing in Dutch, etc. The magazine has been praised both by non-Arab and Arab commentators - Gamal el-Ghitani, James Kirkup
, Anton Shammas
among others - for its role in diffusing Arab literature to a wider audience. The Iraqi poet, novelist and translator Fadhil Al Azzawi
has said:
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1998 by Margaret Obank
Margaret Obank
Margaret Obank is a British publisher. She is noted for her contribution to the dissemination of contemporary Arabic literature in English translation....
and Samuel Shimon
Samuel Shimon
Samuel Shimon is an Iraqi writer and journalist of Assyrian descent. He left Iraq in 1979 with dreams of becoming a director in Hollywood, and has since then lived in Damascus, Amman, Beirut, Nicosia, Aden, Cairo, Tunis and Paris, before finally settling in London...
. The magazine is published three times a year. Since its inception, it has published works and interviews of numerous Arab authors and poets, many of them translated for the first time into English. It is also co-sponsor of the Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
As of February 2011, 39 issues of Banipal have been published. Each issue usually centres around a specific theme, recent issues focusing on Libyan
Libyan
A Libyan is a person or thing of, from, or related to Libya in North Africa.The term Libyan may also refer to:* A person from Libya, or of Libyan descent. For information about the Libyan people, see Demographics of Libya and Culture of Libya. For specific persons, see List of Libyans.* Libyan...
fiction, Arab American
Arab American
An Arab American is a United States citizen or resident of Arab ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage or identity, who identifies themselves as Arab. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World...
authors, Iraqi
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
authors, Literature in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
Today, Writing in Dutch, etc. The magazine has been praised both by non-Arab and Arab commentators - Gamal el-Ghitani, James Kirkup
James Kirkup
James Falconer Kirkup, FRSL was a prolific English poet, translator and travel writer. He was brought up in South Shields, and educated at South Shields Secondary School and Durham University. He wrote over 30 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays...
, Anton Shammas
Anton Shammas
-Biography:Anton Shammas was one of six children born to Hanna Shammas, a Palestinian Christian barber and shoemaker,and a Lebanese mother who moved to Fassuta in 1936 to teach French at the local girls' school...
among others - for its role in diffusing Arab literature to a wider audience. The Iraqi poet, novelist and translator Fadhil Al Azzawi
Fadhil Al Azzawi
Fadhil Al Azzawi is an Iraqi writer and highly respected in the Arab world, as he has published seven volumes of poetry, six novels, three books of criticism and memoir, and several translations of German literary works...
has said:
Contemporary authors featured in Banipal
- Abbas Beydhoun
- Abdel Aziz al-Maqalih
- Abdellatif LaâbiAbdellatif LaabiAbdellatif Laâbi is a Moroccan poet, born in 1942 in Fes, Morocco.Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles, an important literary review in 1966...
- Abdelrahman Munif
- Abdelwahab MeddebAbdelwahab MeddebAbdelwahab Meddeb is an award-winning French-language poet, novelist, essayist, translator, editor, Islamic scholar, cultural critic, political commentator, radio producer, public intellectual and professor of comparative literature at the University of Paris X-Nanterre.- Biography and career...
- Abdullah Laroui
- Abdul Kader el-Janabi
- Abdu Khal
- Abdul Wahab al-Bayati
- Adunis
- Ahmad ZeinAhmad ZeinAhmad Zein is a Yemeni writer and journalist, currently living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he works for the Al-Hayat newspaper. He is the author of two novels and two short story collections. The author's work has been published in Banipal magazine.-References:...
- Ahmed al-Fagih
- Ahmed BouzfourAhmed BouzfourAhmed Bouzfour is a Moroccan novelist.- Biography :Born in the early 1940s near to Taza, Bouzfour received his primary education and learned the Qur'an in a Quranic school. He then studied at the University of Al Qaraouiyine in Fès, where he completed his high school studies and obtained a...
- Ahmed Rashid Thani
- Ala Hlehel
- Alawiyya Subh
- Albert CosseryAlbert CosseryAlbert Cossery was an Egyptian-born French writer of Greek Orthodox Syrian and Lebanese descent, born in Cairo.- Life :...
- Ali al-Domaini
- Ali al-Kasimi
- Ali al-MuqriAli al-MuqriAli al-Muqri is a Yemeni novelist and writer. The author's work has been published in Banipal magazine. Two of his recent novels Black Taste, Black Odour and The Handsome Jew have been longlisted for the Arab Booker Prize.-References:...
- Ali Mohammed ZaydAli Mohammed ZaydAli Mohammed Zayd is a Yemeni ambassador, writer and translator, currently living in Paris. He was delegate of Yemen to UNESCO from 1990–2000 and has published three novels, two historical works and translated works into Arabic from French and English. The author's work has been published in...
- Amjad Nasser
- Anton ShammasAnton Shammas-Biography:Anton Shammas was one of six children born to Hanna Shammas, a Palestinian Christian barber and shoemaker,and a Lebanese mother who moved to Fassuta in 1936 to teach French at the local girls' school...
- Aroussia Naluti
- Aziz Chouaki
- Badr Shakir al-SayyabBadr Shakir al-SayyabBadr Shakir al Sayyab is an Iraqi and Arab poet, born in Jekor, a town south of Basra in Iraq. The eldest child of a date grower and shepherd. He graduated from the Higher teachers training college of Baghdad in 1948...
- Baha Eddine Taoud
- Bassam FrangiehBassam FrangiehBassam Frangieh is a scholar of contemporary Arabic literature and culture. He is best known for his pedagogical innovations in the study of the Arabic language, as well as his translations of modern Arabic poets and novelists. Frangieh also lectures on the society and culture of the Arab world...
- Bassam ShamseldinBassam ShamseldinBassam Shamseldin is a Yemeni novelist and short story writer. He was born in the southern province of Ibb. He has published several novels and collections of short stories, and his work was featured in Banipal magazine, in an issue devoted to contemporary Yemeni writing.-Reference:...
- Bensalim Himmich
- Denys Johnson-DaviesDenys Johnson-DaviesDenys Johnson-Davies is an eminent Arabic-into-English literary translator who has translated, inter alia, several works by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, Sudanese author Tayeb Salih, Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish and Syrian author Zakaria Tamer.Davies, referred to as “the...
- Diya al-Jubaily
- Driss ChraïbiDriss ChraïbiDriss Chraïbi was a Moroccan author whose novels deal with colonialism, culture clashes, generational conflict and the treatment of women and are often semi-autobiographical....
- Edward al-Kharrat
- Edward SaidEdward SaidEdward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
- Elias Khoury
- Etel AdnanEtel AdnanEtel Adnan is a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist.In 2003 MELUS, the journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, called Adnan "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today."She has said, "As for any...
- Ezzat el-Kamhawi
- Fadhil al-Azzawi
- Fady Joudeh
- Fathi Abul Nasr
- Ferial Ghazoul
- Fuad al-Takarli
- Gamal el-Ghitani
- Ghalib Halasa
- Ghassan Zaqtan
- Ghazi Algosaibi
- Habib Abdulrab SaroriHabib Abdulrab SaroriHabib Abdulrab Sarori is a Yemeni computer scientist and novelist. He was born in Aden and pursued higher studies in France, obtaining a Masters degree in Informatics from the University of Paris 6 in 1983, followed by a PhD from the University of Rouen in 1987...
- Habib SelmiHabib SelmiHabib Selmi is a Tunisian novelist and short story writer. He was born in Al-Ala near the historic city of Kairouan. To date, he has published eight novels and two short story collections...
- Habib TengourHabib TengourHabib Tengour is an French-Algerian poet, sociologist and anthropologist. He was born in Mostaganem in eastern Algeria in 1947. The Tengour family moved to France when Habib was five years old, and he grew up there in a working-class household. He studied sociology in France and continued his...
- Haifa Bitar
- Halim BarakatHalim BarakatHalim Barakat is an Arab novelist and sociologist. He was born December 4, 1936 into a Greek-Orthodox Arab family in Kafroun, Syria, and raised in Beirut.-Career:...
- Hanan al-ShaykhHanan al-ShaykhHanan al-Shaykh is a Lebanese author of contemporary Arab women's literature.- Biography :Hanan al-Shaykh's family background is that of a strict Shi'a...
- Hani al-Raheb
- Hassan Abdulrazzak
- Hassan DaoudHassan DaoudHassan Daoud is a Lebanese writer and journalist. Originally from the village of Noumairieh in southern Lebanon, he moved to Beirut as a child with his family. He studied Arabic literature at university. During the Lebanese civil war that broke out in 1975, he worked as a journalist, a profession...
- Hassan Nasr
- Hassouna Mosbahi
- Hoda BarakatHoda BarakatHoda Barakat is an acclaimed Lebanese novelist who lived much of her life in Beirut and later moved to Paris, where she now resides...
- Huda Ablan
- Hussain al-Mozany
- Huzamah Habayeb
- Ibrahim NasrallahIbrahim NasrallahIbrahim Nasrallah is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, novelist, professor, painter and photographer.He studied in the UN agency for Palestine Refugees schools and at the UNRWA Teacher Training College in Amman. He taught in Saudi Arabia for 2 years in the Qunfudha region and worked as a journalist...
- Ibtisam AbdallahIbtisam AbdallahIbtisam Abdallah is a noted Iraqi novelist, short-story writer and literary translator.She was born in Kirkuk but has lived mostly in Baghdad. As of 2001, she had published four novels and one collection of short stories. The best known of her novels is Mesopotamia, published in Baghdad in 2001...
- Inaya Jaber
- Ines AbassiInes AbassiInes Abassi is a Tunisian poet and journalist. She has published two volumes of poetry to date, both of which have received regional literary awards. She also spent a six-month residency in Seoul and wrote Tales of the Korean Scheherezade out of that experience...
- Issa J Boullata
- Jalil al-Qaisi
- Jamal Mahjoub
- Jamila Omairah
- Kadhim Jihad
- Kamal Abdellatif
- Khaled MattawaKhaled MattawaKhaled Mattawa is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English...
- Khalid AlbudoorKhalid AlbudoorKhalid Albudoor is an Arabic poet born in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on April 7, 1961. Albudoor, who was raised in Dubai, is considered to be one of the most important names in the modern poetry movement of the UAE...
- Khulood Al Mu’alla
- Lisa Suher Majaj
- Luay Hamza AbbasLuay Hamza AbbasLuay Hamza Abbas is a noted Iraqi writer. He was born in Basra and studied at Basra University, completing a PhD in 2002. He now teaches literary criticism at Basra University...
- Lutfiya al-Dulaimi
- Mahdi Issa al-Saqr
- Mahmood Abdel Wahab
- Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
- Mahmoud Shukair
- Mai GhoussoubMai GhoussoubMai Ghoussoub was a Lebanese writer, artist, publisher and human rights activist. She was the co-founder of the Saqi bookshop and publishing house.-Life:...
- Miral al-TahawyMiral al-TahawyMiral al-Tahawy is an award-winning Egyptian novelist and short story writer. She comes from a conservative Bedouin background and is regarded as a pioneering literary figure...
- Mohamed al-Bisatie
- Mohamed ChoukriMohamed ChoukriMohamed Choukri , born on July 15, 1935 and died on November 15, 2003, was a Moroccan author and novelist who is best known for his internationally acclaimed autobiography For Bread Alone , which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as 'A true document of human desperation,...
- Mohamed Salah al-Azab
- Mohammad al-Maghut
- Mohammad al-QaoodMohammad al-QaoodMohammad al-Qaood is a Yemeni poet and short story writer. The author's work has been published in Banipal magazine. The author of 13 books of poetry, prose and short stories, he is the cultural editor of the al-Thawra newspaper which is based in the capital of Sana’a.-References:...
- Mohammad al-ShaibaniMohammad al-ShaibaniMohammad al-Shaibani is a Yemeni journalist and poet. The author's work has been published in Banipal magazine. He has published 3 poetry collections as of 2011.-References:...
- Mohammad Ali Farhat
- Mohammad Khodayyi
- Mohammed Al-Harthi
- Mohammed BennisMohammed BennisMohammed Bennis is a Moroccan poet and one of the most important poets of the Modern Arabic Poetry. He was born in Fez, Morocco , in 1948 .He contributes energetically to the modern Arabic poetry and he enjoys since the seventies , a particular status in the Arab culture. Muhsin J...
- Mohammed Khaïr-EddineMohammed Khaïr-EddineMohammed Khair-Eddine was amongst the most famous Moroccan literary figures of the 20th century. Born in 1941 in Tafraoute, as a young writer he joined the circle of writers known as the Amitiés littéraires et artistiques in Casablanca. In 1964 Khair-Eddir founded the "Poésie Toute" movement. In...
- Mohammed Mustagab
- Mohammed Zefzaf
- Mohja KahfMohja Kahf-Biography:Kahf moved to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.She received her Ph.D...
- Mouayed al-Rawi
- Nabila al-Zubair
- Nadia Alkowkobani
- Naguib MahfouzNaguib MahfouzNaguib Mahfouz was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie...
- Najwa BarakatNajwa Barakat-Career:Najwa Barakat was born in Beirut. After achieving studies in theater and cinema , she moves definitely to Paris where she works as a freelance journalist in a number of Arabic newspapers and magazines, and gathered the materials for several cultural programs produced by Radio France...
- Nassif Falak
- Nazih Abu Afash
- Nazik al-MalaikaNazik Al-MalaikaNazik Al-Malaika , Al-Malaika in English: Angels , she was an Iraqi female poet and is considered by many to be one of most influential contemporary Iraqi female poets....
- Nazum al-Obeidi
- Nirvana Tanoukhi
- Nizar QabbaniNizar QabbaniNizar Tawfiq Qabbani was a Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher. His poetic style combines simplicity and elegance in exploring themes of love, eroticism, feminism, religion, and Arab nationalism...
- Nouri al-JarrahNouri al-JarrahNouri al-Jarrah is a Syrian poet. He moved to Beirut in 1981, then to Cyprus and finally to London working as journalist in a number of Arabic newspapers and magazines....
- Nujoom Al-Ghanem
- Ounsi el Hage
- Paul Chaoul
- Qassim HaddadQassim HaddadQassim Haddad is a Bahraini poet, particularly notable within the Arab world. He published his first collection in 1970 and has since published more than 16 books, including a book of poetry and paintings Majnun Laila, and a book of poetry in collaboration with Saudi photographer Saleh al-Azzaz...
- Rabee JaberRabee JaberRabee Jaber is a Lebanese author, novelist and journalist, born in 1972 in Beirut, Lebanon. He studied Physics at the American University of Beirut...
- Rachid al-Daif
- Rachida Lamrabet Epic
- Rafik SchamiRafik SchamiRafik Schami is a Syrian-German author, storyteller and critic.-Biography:Born in Damascus, Syria in 1946, Schami is the son of a baker from an Syriac-Christian family. His schooling and university studies took place in Damascus. From 1965, Schami wrote stories in Arabic...
- Ramsey NasrRamsey NasrRamsey Nasr is a Dutch author and actor of mixed descent .He is Dichter des Vaderlands since January 2009.-Filmography:*Frans en Duits *Thuisfront...
- Rasha Omran
- Rashad Abu Shawar
- Sa'adallah Wannus
- Saadi YoussefSaadi YoussefSaadi Yousef is an Iraqi author, poet, journalist, publisher, and political activist. He has published thirty volumes of poetry and seven books of prose.-Life:Saadi Yousef studied Arabic literature in Baghdad...
- Said al-Kafrawi
- Saif al-Rahbi
- Salah Hassan
- Salim BarakatSalim BarakatSalim Barakat is a Syrian writer of Kurdish origins. He was brought up in Qamishli in northern Syria and spent most of his youth there. In 1970 he moved to Damascus to study Arabic Literature but after one year he moved to Beirut where he stayed until 1982. While in Beirut he published five...
- Salwa al-Neimi
- Samar YazbekSamar YazbekSamar Yazbek is a Syrian writer and journalist. She was born in Jablé in 1970, and studied Arabic literature at university. She has written in a wide variety of genres - novels, short stories, film scripts, television dramas, film and TV criticism. She has made a documentary about the Syrian...
- Samir Albufattah
- Samir NaqqashSamir NaqqashSamir Naqqash was an Iraqi Jewish novelist, short-story writer, and playwright who immigrated to Israel.-Biography:...
- Saniya Salih
- Sargon BoulusSargon BoulusSargon Boulus was an Iraqi-Assyrian poet and short story writer.He was born in Habbaniyah, Iraq. In 1967, he left for Beirut, where he worked as a journalist and a translator. He later emigrated to the United States, and from 1968 lived in San Francisco. He studied comparative literature at the...
- Sawsan al-Areeqi
- Shawqi ShafiqShawqi ShafiqShawqi Shafiq is a Yemeni poet and translator. The author's work has been published in Banipal magazine. The author of 8 books of poetry, some of his works have been published in several languages.-References:...
- Tahar Ben JellounTahar Ben JellounTahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan poet and writer. The entirety of his work is written in French, although his first language is Arabic.-Life:...
- Tayeb SalihTayeb Salih-Early life:Born in Karmakol, near the village of Al Dabbah in the Northern Province of Sudan, he studied at the University of Khartoum before leaving for the University of London in England. Coming from a background of small farmers and religious teachers, his original intention was to work in...
- Turki al-HamadTurki al-HamadTurki al-Hamad is a Saudi-Arabian political analyst, journalist, and novelist, best known for his trilogy about the coming-of-age of Hisham al-Abir, a Saudi Arabian teenager, the first installment of which, Adama, was published in 1998...
- Vénus Khoury-GhataVénus Khoury-GhataVénus Khoury-Ghata is a Lebanese writer.In 1959, she was Miss Beirut.She married French researcher Jean Ghata. She collaborated on Europe magazine, directed by Louis Aragon, translating it into Arabic with other poets...
- Wacini Laradg
- Wajdi al-AhdalWajdi al-AhdalWajdi al-Ahdal is a Yemeni novelist, short story writer and playwright. He was born near Bajil in the province of Hadida and studied at the University of Sanaa...
- Wilfred ThesigerWilfred ThesigerSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, FRAS, FRGS was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.-Family:...
- Yasmine Khlat
- Yasser Abdel Baqi
- Yasser Abdel HafezYasser Abdel HafezYasser Abdel Hafez is an Egyptian novelist and journalist. He was born in Cairo and studied law at Ain Shams University. He has worked as a journalist for the Arabic-language literary journal Akhbar al-Adab for more than 20 years. Abdel Hafez's most notable work is his novel On the Occasion of...
- Youssef Rakha
- Yusef Habshi al-Ashqar
- Zakariyya TamerZakariyya TamerZakaria Tamer , also transliterated Zakariya Tamir , is an influential master of the Arabic-language short story....