T W O T H O U S a N D a N D T W E L
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
T H E A G E N C Y F O R A R A B I C L I T E R A T U R E R A Y A T W O T H O U S A N D A N D T W E L V E [email protected] | www.rayaagency.org T H E A G E N C Y F O R A R A B I C L I T E R A T U R E R A Y A | R A Y A specializes in the representation of world rights of translation and adaptation of Arabic works since 2004. | N E W T O T H E L I S T Hasan DAOUD No road to paradise The mid-life crisis of a small town’s Imam, and how he decides to choose his own path. Ibrahim NASRALLAH The King of Galilee The story of Zaher Al Omar who fought the Ottoman Empire for independence in the 18th c. A captivating historical epic. Ibrahim NASRALLAH The balcony of shame A clever depiction of the mechanisms underlying crimes of honor. | F E A T U R E D T I T L E S Jabbour DOUAIHY Chased away What if you were born a Muslim and brought up a Christian? Shortlisted for the Arab Booker (IPAF) 2012 Kamal AL RIAHI The gorilla The Tunisian revolution as it could have happened - and finally did. A gripping, humorous and poetic story revolving around a single man. Mohmmad ALWAN Beavers The sharp portrait of a contemporary Saudi bourgeois family, through the eyes of the despised forty year old son. Khaled KHALIFA In praise of hatred The crush of the 1982 uprising in Syria by the Assad regime. A young woman affiliated to the Muslim brotherhood tells her story. Samar YAZBEK In the crossfire: Syrian revolution diaries Covering the first 5 months of the Syrian uprising. A meticulous and poignant text. Excerpt featured in The Guardian Samar YAZBEK In her mirrors Centuries of Alawite violent history through 24 hours of a passionate love story. | C L A S S I C S Hasan DAOUD 180 Sunsets How violence, caused by the fantasized love of a simple minded man, creeps into a small quiet town. | F R O M T H E B A C K L I S T Hilal CHOUMAN Napolitana Set in the Beirut of the year 2010, Napolitana is a successful mix of fresh air, smartness and gravity. Jabbour DOUAIHY June rain The dense account of a town wrapped in the cycle of revenge, Northern Lebanon 1957. Based on a true story. Samar YAZBEK Cinnamon A portrait of Syria’s social extremes, through the love story of a woman with her maid. | B A CK L I S T More titles available on the backlist [email protected] | www.rayaagency.org N E W T H E A G E N C Y F O R A R A B I C L I T E R A T U R E R A Y A N O R O A D T O D A O U D P A R A D I S E Hassan F I C T I O N No road to paradise La tariq ila al janna H. Daoud Dar al saqi, Beirut (to appear) xxx pages RIGHTS BIO Rights owner. Dar al saqi. Hassan Daoud was born in a village of South Lebanon in RAYA agency represents this title for world rights except 1950. He moved to Beirut with his family as a child and French. worked as a journalist in several newspapers before becoming the editor or Al Mustaqbal’s cultural supplement. Sold rights. World rights available. SOME OTHER WORKS AVAILABLE MATERIAL Daoud published 8 novels, namely: The house of Mathilde PDF of the novel, in Arabic. (1983, translated into French, Actes Sud, 1998; English, Granta). Borrowed times (1990, translated into English, Telegram; French, Actes Sud, 2001). The penguin’s song REMARKS (1998, translated into French, Actes Sud, 2007). A light Daoud’s novel 180 Sunsets was long-listed for the IPAF make-up for tonight (2003). The year of the revolutionary (Arab Man Booker prize) 2010. new bread-making machine (translated into English, Telegram, 2007). | S U M M A R Y of his father kept fidels coming to the mosque. Now, his father is sick at home, dying in his bed. And nobody comes The mid-life crisis of a small town’s Imam, and how he to the mosque anymore, until these foreigners came by. decides to choose his own path. The novel, written in the first person, as always with Hasan In South Lebanon, a small town's Imam is going through a Daoud, instills a deep feeling of loss and apathy in the mid-life crisis. He was diagnosed with cancer, an illness the reader. What is the meaning of life, and why are we name of which he rather not pronounce, and is getting trapped sometimes, in schemes of things that we have not ready for surgery. This Imam with no name, to whom chosen? The narrator seems to ask himself. Until one day, everyone refers as 'Al sayyed', the master, is scared of at the very end of the movel, al sayyed decides to stop death and pain. He is also bored with his married life, but being ‘al sayyed’. He removes the robe he has always too coward to make a real change. Obsessively attracted to worn, shaves his beard, and sets off to the street. his brother's widow, he fantasizes about her strong body, knee-long skirts, high heels and manicured nails. He does No road to paradise is the story of this liberation. How a 45 have some sort of timid affair with her, but does not find it year old imam finally choses the life he always wanted for in him to go all the way. Perhaps he takes pity on his himself. A very ordinary man who slowly realizes that his unhappy wife. Perhaps still he feels he is not performing life is his. his duties towards the town's mosque that has been slowly invaded by Islamic fundamentalists come from elsewhere, This book is the sensitive and detailed account of the making him feel like a guest in his own parish. But mostly, circumstances of this slow awakening. the surgery he’s been through makes him wonder if he is the same man with a different body. Al sayyed is not a man of religion by vocation. Unlike his father, a powerful, charismatic, and loved man, his grand- father, or his great grand-father, al sayyed just obeyed his father's will, and went to Nejef in Iraq to study Islam. When D A O U D, N O R O A D T O P A R A D I S E P1/1 he preaches, he lacks energy and reach, but the presence N E W T H E A G E N C Y F O R A R A B I C L I T E R A T U R E R A Y A T H E K I N G O F G A L I L E E N A S R A L L A H H I S T O R I C A L Ibrahim F I C T I O N The king of Galilee Qanadil malek al jalil I. Nasrallah Dar al arabiya li al ouloum, Beirut, 2011 555 pages RIGHTS BIO Rights owner. The author Born in 1954 in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, RAYA agency represents this title for world rights. Ibrahim Nasrallah worked as a journalist for 18 years before dedicating himself to writing in 2006. Cinema is a great Sold rights. All rights available. influence on his work, and he eventually published two books of film critique. A poet as well as a novelist, he won AVAILABLE MATERIAL the Sultan Owais Award, the most prestigious award of PDF of the novel, in Arabic. poetry in the Arab world. REMARKS SOME OTHER WORKS Nasrallah’s novel ‘The time of white horses’ was shortlisted Nasrallah has published more than 11 novels. Some of for the IPAF (Arab Man Booker Prize) 2009. which are: Prairies of fever (1985) -- translated into English (Interlink, 1993), Italian ( Edizioni Lavoro, 2001). Danish edition by Underskoven in 2006 -- Shame (2010). The time of white horses (2007) -- translated into English (AUC, 2011). │ S U M M A R Y The story of Zaher al Omar, who fought the Ottoman unquestionable authority of the governors. He decides to Empire for indpendence in the 18th century. A pay the taxes that are due to the Empire, but prevent the captivating epic tale. governors of Sidon, then Damascus, from abusing and humiliating the population. Zaher’s vision is that of an Zaher al Omar al Zaydani is the youngest son of a tax independent and peaceful country that would rule itself. It is collector for the Ottoman Empire, Omar al Zaydani, born and the start of a life of struggle, full of wars, strategies, raised in Tiberias, Galilee, in 1689. When Omar al Zaydani intrigues, and plotting, the aim of which is to take as much dies, Zaher is a young man of about 15. All of Omar’s sons, freedom as possible from the Empire and maintain stability. Saad, Yusef, Saleh and Zaher, gather in order to decide who Zaher al Omar is an important historical figure, will take over the father’s role.