Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608192024 ISBN 13: 9781608192021

Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA, 2010

Synopsis

Beirut is the 2009 World Book Capital, as designated by UNESCO, and at the center of the festivities, in collaboration with the world-renowned Hay Festival, is a competition to identify the thirty-nine most promising young talents in Arab literature. The selection of the "Beirut 39" follows the success of a similar competition in the 2007 World Book Capital, Bogotá, celebrating achievements in Latin American literature.

This year, for the first time, the winners—nominated by publishers, literary critics, and readers across the Arab world and internationally, and selected by a panel of eminent Arab writers, academics, and journalists—will be published together in a one-of-a-kind anthology. Edited by Samuel Shimon of Banipal magazine, the collection will be published simultaneously in Arabic and English throughout the world by Bloomsbury and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.

Beirut 39 provides an important look at the Arab-speaking world today, through the eyes of thirty-nine of its brightest young literary stars.

About this title

Review:

PRAISE FOR 'BEIRUT39' 'Beirut 39 is an amazing cultural initiative for talented young Arab writers. It offers them a vital platform to meet and interact, provides them with a prestigious international exposure, and allows their voices and writing talents to reach a well deserved wider audience. What better way to celebrate Beirut world capital of the book?' Tahar Ben jelloun PRAISE FOR BOGOTA39 'Bogota39 brought together some of the most outstanding Latin American writers under the age of 40. And it confirmed a new breed of author: children of cultural cross-breeding and cosmopolitan heritage with a global outlook. They comprise a panorama of uninhibited and polyphonic voices reinvigorating the short story form as well as the novel.' El Pais

Book Description:

'These 39 Arab writers are all under the age of 40. They have
flung open the doors on Arabic culture inviting the reader to transcend
cultural boundaries and land in a region known as the "Arab World".'
Hanan al-Shaykh

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1608192024
• ISBN 13: 9781608192021
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Shimon Samuel