(Sana’a, Yemen) – The shortlist for the 2023 Hazawi Prize for Yemeni Literature has been revealed, announcing the ten writers who have been selected as finalists for this prestigious award. Now in its second yearly round, the Hazawi Prize recognizes exceptional contributions to fiction in Yemeni literature. Organized by the Hazawi Cultural Foundation, this annual …
The World Narrowed Around Me Like a coffin closing in, Hope was all that kept my spirit from dying. My friend, should I take my leave from you, What use then would rubies be after parting? Complaint has never been in my nature, God as my witness, silence I will not keep. Yet time crushed …
The World Narrowed Around Me – by Karim Al-Iraqi – translated by Hatem Al-Shamea Read More »
O Lord… Your people have never clung to your rope alone But strayed and leaned on ropes other than yours And those ropes failed them * * * O Lord… Our kings… Our emirs… our leaders… Trampled on consciences, discernment and bonds And above them they spat!! Who was said to be our scholars… oh …
The Decisive Discourse – by Esa Al-Azab and translated by Hatem Al-Shamea Read More »
Alone behind despair… memories gnaw at me until I weaken And my artistic childhood… amazes me… from the heaviness of my afflictions and feebleness For here I am a child without childhood… and sorrow is my nurse and embracer And the vileness of villains frightens them… and I am without vice, without meanness They feared …
The Iraqi and global poetry communities are in mourning following the death of renowned Iraqi poet Karim Al-Iraqi. He passed away early this morning at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at the age of 68. Karim Al-Iraqi was considered one of Iraq’s most influential contemporary poets, known for his lyric poems expressing …
Poetry World Mourns Passing of Prominent Iraqi Poet Karim Al-Iraqi Read More »
The Iraqi and global poetry communities are in mourning following the death of renowned Iraqi poet Karim Al-Iraqi. He passed away early this morning at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at the age of 68. Karim Al-Iraqi was considered one of Iraq’s most influential contemporary poets, known for his lyric poems expressing …
Poetry World Mourns Passing of Prominent Iraqi Poet Karim Al-Iraqi Read More »
By Hatem Al-Shamea ———————————- ———————————– Introduction Bassam Shams El Din is an acclaimed Yemeni novelist who has made significant contributions to Arabic literature. He was born in Ibb, Yemen in 1974. He is known for vivid, imaginative works tackling social and philosophical themes. His writings provide insightful commentary on Yemeni culture and artfully explore elements …
By Hatem Mohammed Al-Shamea ————————————- ————————————- Introduction Yusef Al-Majidi’s abstract piece depicts several Yemeni national symbols against an orange backdrop. Painted in 2023, it features an unveiled jambiya dagger alongside Queen Bilqis’s six-pillar throne and the ibex horn of Yemen. A shawl is tied crown-like on a pillar. While non-representational, symbols of Yemeni identity and …
by Hatem Al-Shamea Introduction Yemen’s ongoing civil war is an exceptionally complex and multifaceted conflict involving a multiplicity of internal and external actors [[1]]. Despite numerous attempts by the international community to broker peace, the situation has become deadlocked [[2]]. Any cogent analysis of the conflict requires examining the motivations and actions of the various …
by Hatem Al-ShameaThe Haze of Desire: Exploring Narration, Gender Politics, and Social Critique in Ahmed Abdo’s “The Enamoured Demon-Possessed” Introduction Mohammed Mohammed Al-Shahat Al-Raghy is a renowned Egyptian poet and former journalist. He was born in 1954 in the village of El-Dehrya located in Sharbeen district, Dakahlia governorate. Al-Shahat went on to receive his higher …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Seeking Cures on Arduous Roads: Postcolonial Analysis of Healthcare and Infrastructure in Arafat Musleh’s “Exhausting Rides” Introduction Ahmed Abdo’s novel “The Enamoured Demon-Possessed” opens with a dense, dreamlike passage brimming with poetic imagery and uncertain reality. The excerpt’s haziness invites literary examination of its unreliable narration, subtextual gender politics, and subtle social …
By Abdulkareem Al-Ofairi I came from Sheba, reciting my rhyme, Wandering in lovestruck bliss so sublime Inebriated in rapture that makes senses reel As though lost in time’s unmindful wheel I gave her my soul, holding nothing behind For her sake, I think nothing too dear to find I reveled in her beauty for ages …
By Hatem Al-Shameahttps://golpapa.com/product/will-to-power-by-hatem-mohammed-al-shamea-non-fiction/ I. Introduction Entesar Asseri (b. 1984) is a pioneering contemporary Yemeni short story writer, one of the first women authors in her society to critically examine gender inequality. Her bold feminism provides perceptive critiques of women’s issues in Yemen. This analysis will examine her short story “The Hole,” is one of the …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Introduction Fikria Shihra’s novel “Al-Thajjah”2020, provides a nuanced depiction of women’s lives and the complex gender dynamics within Yemeni society. Its central female characters are portrayed navigating patriarchal constraints while asserting individual desires and agency. This paper analyzes representations of women and gender relations through the lenses of feminist theory and psychoanalysis. …
Women’s Agency and Patriarchal Constraints in Fikria Shihra’s “Al-Thajjah” Read More »
By Hatem Al-Shamea Abstract This paper provides a critical analysis of Arafat Musleh’s short story “The Day of Maimoon’s Disappearance” through the theoretical lenses of ecocriticism, mythology, and postcolonialism. It examines key themes relating to the cultural and ecological dynamics between villagers and their habitat in rural Yemen. The analysis is divided into five main …
a poem by Eman Assaeedi illusion, I thought the poem was an impenetrable wall that would not be held by the gloom of the loin. And that war will not reproduce in a cradle of an arc of joy. And that the grass is the extension of spring, whose door the hand of the wind …
By Entesar Asseri She rushed with excitement to the toy store and started picking out lots of toys. She wanted them all so badly. When it came time to pay, she suddenly remembered she was barren! Translated by Hatem Al-Shamea
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature University of Reading, UK. ——————————————————————– Introduction In his expansive 2009 work The Paradox of Photography, philosopher and aesthetics scholar Pierre Taminiaux explores the multilayered and seemingly contradictory nature of photography as a medium. Weaving together philosophical inquiry with close visual analyses, Taminiaux’s study delves into the ontological, …
Revealing the Layers: A Critical Review of Pierre Taminiaux’s The Paradox of Photography Read More »
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature, University of Reading, UK. ——————————————– Introduction Arafat Musleh is a Yemeni short story writer. He lives in the USA. His short story “Exhausting Rides,” translated from Arabic by Hatem Al-Shamea, offers a poignant glimpse into the struggles of a poor family in rural Yemen seeking treatment for …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature University of Reading, UK. Introduction Eman Assaedi is a contemporary Yemeni poet. Her free verse poem “Excess of Joy” offers a multilayered reflection on the themes of disillusionment, conflict, mortality, and poetry’s redemptive power in the aftermath of trauma. Much like Charles Baudelaire’s pioneering work in the …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature, University of Reading, UK ————————————– Introduction Abdullah Al-Baraddouni (1929–1999), the visually impaired poet of Yemen, rose from humble beginnings to become one of the Arab world’s most celebrated modern poets. Born in 1929 in the rural village of Zirajah, the young Al-Baraddouni was robbed of his sight …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature University of Reading, UK. Fragmented Identities: Postcolonial Alienation and the Exilic Imagination in Sameer Abdelfattah’s “Empty Box” Introduction In the enigmatic modernist short story “Empty Box,” Yemeni author Sameer Abdelfattah skillfully encapsulates the psychic dislocation and fractured subjectivity of exile. Abdelfattah’s avant-garde narrative offers insight into what …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature, University of Reading, UK. Introduction The novel Yael’s Darkness written by Yemeni author Al-Gharbi Emran, translated by Hatem Al-Shamea, offers a vivid window into the urban environment of Sana’a through the observations of the narrator. Applying concepts from postcolonial literary theory brings into sharper focus the representations …
By Hatem Al-Shamea Assistant Professor of English Literature, University of Reading, UK Introduction Entesar Asseri’s micro-stories (taken from her collection of flash fiction, Prayer in the Embrace of Water” translated by Hatem Al-Shamea) offer intimate glimpses into the inner lives of Arabic women. Applying feminist literary theory brings gender dynamics and patriarchal norms into focus. …
Probing Patriarchy: Feminist Analysis of Entesar Asseri’s Flash Fiction Vignettes Read More »
Ahmed Abdo, the renowned Egyptian novelist and short story writer, has made significant contributions to the world of literature. Born in 1951 in the beautiful village of Barmekim in Sharqia governorate, Abdo is a member of the esteemed Egyptian Writers’ Union and the Cairo Story Club. Abdo has published numerous collections of short stories, each …
by Arafat Musleh Despite the lurch and joggle of the car on the dirt road enveloping me in a strange sense of comfort, I found myself unable to rest my head against the windowpane. I turned to my mother, who was sitting to my right, staring absently into the void, while beside her, my brother …
Al-Gharbi Emran is a renowned Yemeni novelist and short story writer. He has established himself as a prominent figure in the literary world. Born in 1958, he spent his early childhood in Yemen and Sudan before returning to Saudi Arabia in his youth and eventually making his way back to Yemen after fifteen years of …
by Isa Al-Azab Poetry is a death, and verses are its tombThe poets’ manuscripts are but memories of its doom The letter is a house that doesn’t shelter its ownIts meter and poverty, its silence leaves us alone So break the chains of poetry and leave its dwellingAbandon its gatherings and stages, let it stop …
By Fatima Wahidi Her self-esteem and unwavering confidence in her abilities were the secrets behind her certainty that her life would inevitably change for the better. She grew up among her sisters and peers, close in resemblance to them, but she always felt different. Her wish came true the day she saw him: a young, …
