In the year 2006 Hisham Matar published his debut novel In the country of men. This writer was born in New York (United States of America) when his father was a diplomat for the Libyan government. In later years he grew up in Tripoli and in Cairo. These last two cities feature in this novel. … Continue reading review IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN
A year in reading: Hisham Matar
He travelled to Spain, to settle for a month in the town Siena. He finished a book, read about issues in the history of the town. What else did Hisham Matar, who hails from Libya, in this year 2018? Read his list in this article.
Review of THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESERT METAPHORES IN IBRAHIM AL-KONI
Just over two years ago I read The Bleeding of the Stone by the Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni. I do admit that I read a translation for I do not read nor understand Arabic. And Arabic is the language al-Koni (1948) uses in his writing, eventhough only at the age of 12 did he start learning … Continue reading Review of THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESERT METAPHORES IN IBRAHIM AL-KONI
International literature is hugely underrated, while English books are often overrated
The title of this article is an interesting one. Many readers are familiar with books written by British and North American writers. But what about books in Hungarian or Japanese or Arabic or Swahili or isiZulu? Do writers who use English as their first language in writing have an advantage? Hisham Matar talks about this … Continue reading International literature is hugely underrated, while English books are often overrated
Review of NISA AL-MAGHRABI
Right at the start I have to admit that I did not read the original Arabic version of this book written by Razan al-Maghrabi. My grasp of languages is limited and does not include Arabic. I have read the Dutch translation that was published in the very same year as the original publication. Let us … Continue reading Review of NISA AL-MAGHRABI
Dankesrede von Hisham Matar
It was not an easy thing to stage resistance against the Nazi regime in Germany. But two siblings did make an attempt, brother and sister Scholl with Die Weisse Rose. Their efforts ended in death. About 25 years ago a literary prize was established carrying their names. This years winner is Hisham Matar, for the … Continue reading Dankesrede von Hisham Matar
books touched by Africa 