A perfect Vacuum
In 2013, I wrote about mourning as a space where names dissolve into abstraction, where language struggles against the void left by the dead. Now, Mayada Ibrahim’s luminous translation brings this meditation into English, preserving its sharp questions and uncomfortable truths.
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I’m deeply grateful to Mayda Ibrahim for her careful translation that brings this text to English readers with such integrity and sensitivity.
War Forgets No One
“I had no choice but to become an enemy of war. I fought it through writing—and by writing, I seek to survive.”
I’m honored to share my translation of Stella Gaitano’s piercing reflection on war, survival, and the defiant act of storytelling. Guest-edited by Jamal Mahjoub, this piece—published in Guernica—captures Gaitano’s unflinching voice as she maps the scars of conflict onto the body of a nation.
PEN x International Booker Prize Grant
Mayada Ibrahim and I are honored to receive a PEN Presents x International Booker Prize grant to translate Stella Gaitano’s IREME into English.
Gaitano’s novel, a profound exploration of displacement and resilience, amplifies the voices of Sudan’s untold stories. This translation is our act of witness.
When War Rages: Writing as a Vehicle of Resilience
I’m honored to share my translation of Stella Gaitano‘s powerful essay “When War Rages, Writing as a Vehicle for Resilience,” originally published by PEN/Opp. Working with Stella’s visceral insights and wisdom presented a humbling challenge: how to preserve the weight of words that carry both trauma and hope? This piece reminds us that war writing isn’t just testimony; it’s an act of survival.
The Feminist Shrine
By Hekma Yagoub
Translated from Arabic by Najlaa Eltom
By patriarchal design, war hastened the deaths of kidney patients dependent on dialysis, and those with terminal illnesses who clung to life through treatment, only to have their last hope crushed. Pain, too, is political. Grief is political. Because war weaponizes pain and grief, turning them into ends in themselves.
…Read Hekma’s essay here:
The Feminist Shrine – ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY
With immense gratitude to Hekma for trusting me with her words, and to Roya for all the light she was, and remains.
Conjunctions
By Nagi Al-Badawi
Translated from Arabic by Max Shmookler & Najlaa Eltom
A Condition
By Adil al-Qassas
Translated from Arabic by Max Shmookler & Najlaa Eltom
Isolation
By Sabah Babiker Ibraheem Sanhouri
Translated from Arabic by Max Shmookler & Najlaa Eltom
The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away
By Bushra al-Fadil, winner of the Caine Prize, 2017
Translated from Arabic by Max Shmookler & Najlaa Eltom
Always
By Pablo Neruda