International Journal editorial board of Euro-Mediterranean Studies Nabil Mahmoud Alawi, An-Najah University, Palestine issn 1855-3362 Nadia Al-Bagdadi, Central European The aim of the International Journal of University, Hungary Euro-Mediterranean Studies is to promote Ahmad M. Atawneh, Hebron University, intercultural dialogue and exchanges Palestine between societies, develop human Pamela Ballinger, Bowdoin College, usa resources, and to assure greater Klemen Bergant, University of Nova Gorica, mutual understanding in the Euro- Slovenia Mediterranean region. Roberto Biloslavo, University of Primorska, L’objectif de la revue internationale d’etudes Slovenia Euro-Méditerranéennes est de promouvoir Rémi Brague, Panthéon-Sorbonne University, le dialogue interculturel et les échanges France entre les sociétés, développer les Holger Briel, University of Nicosia, Cyprus ressources humaines et assurer une Donna Buchanan, University of Illinois usa compréhension mutuelle de qualité au at Urbana-Champaign, sein de la région euro-méditerranéenne. Costas M. Constantinou, University of Nicosia, Cyprus Namen Mednarodne revije za evro-mediteranske Claudio Cressati, University of Udine, študije je spodbujanje medkulturnega Italy dialoga in izmenjav, razvoj cloveškihˇ Yamina El Kirat El Allame, University virov in zagotavljanje boljšega Mohammed V,Morocco medsebojnega razumevanja v Julia Elyachar Mastnak, Scientific Research evro-mediteranski regiji. Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences ijems is indexed in ibss and Arts and doaj. Said Ennahid, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco editor- in-chief Nejat Erk, Cukurova University, Turkey Luckaˇ Lorber, University of Maribor, Carlos Fraenkel, McGill University, Slovenia Canada associate editors Mladen Franko, University of Nova Touhami Abdouli, University of Sousse, Gorica, Slovenia Tunisia Giacomarra Mario Gandolfo, University Montserrat Duch, Rovira i Virgili of Palermo, Italy University, Spain Anton Gosar, University of Primorska, Albert Marouani, Nice Sophia Antipolis Slovenia University, France Rune Gulev, Kiel University of Applied Mohamed Abdel Aziz Salama, Sciences, Germany Alexandria University, Egypt Mitja Guštin, University of Primorska, managing editor Slovenia Hassan Hanafi, Cairo University, Egypt Alen Ježovnik, Folio Publishing Services, Slovenia Continued on the back inside cover ijems International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies Table of Contents guest editors Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon 3 Challenging the Odds: 27 Women Authors from the Mediterranean Arab World Selected and Introduced by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon 15 Latifa Baqa, AShortStory 19 Najwa Binshatwan, AShortStory 24 Wafa al-Bueissa, A Chapter from the Novel Hunger Has Other Faces 31 Rachida el-Charni, AShortStory 35 Alexandra Chreiteh, An Excerpt from the Novel Always Coca-Cola 44 Mansoura Ez-Eldin, Two Short Stories 52 Joumana Haddad, Two Poems 55 Nathalie Handal, Song Posts 58 Huzamah Habayeb, AShortStory 65 Inaya Jaber, Three Poems 68 Rachida Lamrabet, Excerpt from the novel Womanland 73 Wafa Malih, AShortStory 77 Maram al-Massri, Selected Poems 83 Iman Mersal, Four Poems 86 Nacera Mohammedi, Two Poems 89 Amel Moussa, Five Poems 92 Rasha Omran, Two Poems 96 Rabia Raihane, AShortStory 99 Azza Rashad, Two Short Stories 107 Amina Saïd, Two Poems 110 Adania Shibli, An Excerpt from the Novel We Are All Equally Far From Love 116 Alawiya Sobh, A Chapter from the Novel It’s Called Love 127 Miral al-Tahawy, An Excerpt from the Novel Gazelle Tracks volume 4 | 2011 | special issue 134 Rana al-Tonsi, From A Rose for the Last Days 137 Dima Wannous, AShortStory 141 Samar Yazbek, An Excerpt from the Novel Clay 149 Fawzia Zouari, A Reflection: Time’s Running out for Scheherazade 155 Acknowledgments and Sources 158 Biographies of Authors 164 Biographies of Translators 167 Résumé 168 Povzetek Financial support for the publication of this Special Issue was provided by the emuni Foundation ijems Challenging the Odds 27 Women Authors from the Mediterranean Arab World Selected and Introduced by 3 Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon [ ] Challenging the Odds is a selection of works by 27 women authors from issues of Banipal magazine. The women – 17 fiction writers and 10 poets – come from the eight Arab countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Banipal is a pan-Arab magazine and looks at literature not from national points of view but across the Arab world as a whole; producing this feature has revealed certain gaps in our presentation of fiction and poetry by women authors from these Mediterranean countries, which we will seek to remedy in future. All 27 authors are daring, original, imaginative, taboo-breaking and forthright, making significant contributions to opening up the literary scene in the globalised 21st century, and adopting topics and styles that challenge, are thought-provoking and take as a first premiss the author’s right to freedom of expression; and six of them have already been selected as among the best 39 young Arab authors under the age of 40 (for the Beirut39 project). All these authors write freely, going where their subjects take them, and thereby contributing greatly to the questioning of backward attitudes, of repressive social norms and stereotypes, bringing a freshness, humour, honesty and openness to the ongoing discussion and dialogue about eternal human predicaments and individual freedoms. introduction Banipal magazine presents authors from all Arab countries; it is pan- Arab and does not look at literature from any national point of view, but from the Arab world as a whole. For this special issue of the International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies, we present a selection of works by authors from the countries of the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea that have been published in past is- sues of Banipal magazine. When we started looking at the authors in the issues of Banipal to date – 42 issues over 14 years – and discovered volume 4 | 2011 | special issue Challenging the Odds we had published over 200 authors from the eight countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, we re- alised that we had to have strict criteria. On what basis could we make the selection? Were they to be renowned authors? Should they be fic- [4] tion writers or poets? Should they already have works fully translated and published in English, in French, in Italian, for instance? Should they be young, emerging authors? Should they be male or female? In concentrating on the eight countries with shores on the Mediter- ranean Sea, we have discovered gaps in our previous presentations, both in genre and gender. For instance, there has been a severe lack of Alge- rian women authors in the issues, as well as a dearth of women fiction writers from Tunisia. In Lebanon, novels seem to have taken prece- dence over short stories and poetry with few young poets coming to prominence. In Morocco and Syria, women’s fiction-writing is very strong, while in Egypt, it seems that writing poetry is more popular among young women authors (with the opposite being true for young male Egyptian authors). Concerning Palestine, however, many of the women authors grew up and live in the diaspora and write in English, such as Nathalie Handal (included in this selection), Naomi Shihab Nye, Suheir Hamad, Susan Abulhawa and Randa Jarrar, but we plan to remedy this situation in 2012 after a visit to Palestine this year when we met many new emerging authors. The interest in translating contemporary Arab literature, and bringing it into the world literature fold, so to speak, has been trans- formed over the last fifteen years, both within the Arab world and on a wider scale. In 1998 the establishment of Banipal magazine as a window on that literary scene was unprecedented. Our direct con- tacts with Arab authors and knowledge of the scene made it ‘the best current encyclopaedia of this literature,’ according the Lebanese poet Abbas Beydoun. Then came 9/11,withtheupsurgeinwesterninter- est in Arabic literature bringing more interest in translation. Another important factor has been the establishment in 2007 of the annual International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known in the Arab world as the Arabic Booker. As the first-ever, independently judged Arabic lit- erary prize, all works submitted by the publishers have a chance to be long-listed, short-listed or become the winner, since the judges as- ijems Challenging the Odds sess the individual novels, not the authors. The list of translated titles from these works grows ever year. Finally, we must include our guest editing of this special issue of the Journal as another important step in opening the window of the world ever wider onto the rich tapesty of contemporary Arab literature. [5] After much discussion we decided to select women authors who have made, and are making, a significant contribution to opening up the literary scene for all authors, and are adopting subject matter and styles that are original and daring, that challenge taboos, that take as a first premiss the author’s right to freedom of expression. These au- thors write freely and fearlessly, going where their subjects take them, and thereby contributing to the questioning of attitudes, social ‘norms’ and stereotypes, bringing a freshness, humour, honesty and openness to the ongoing discussion and dialogue of eternal human predicaments and opportunities. Until relatively recently, and even up to today, au- thors writing fiction – and particularly women authors and those who write in the first person, as many do – were accused of writing au- tobiographically, it was assumed that they must have lived what they were writing about. All these women authors have struggled against and ignored that prejudice, and stood firm, to be free to write what they want, whether or not there is any relation to their own lives. It is a sign of their influence that this prejudice is being consigned more and more to history. Arranged alphabetically by family name, the 27 authors comprise ten poets and seventeen fiction writers, the fiction including both short stories and excerpts from novels.