‘Riccardo’s Iran, discovered and rediscovered … becomes a mirror in which the world and its distant lands appear before one’s eyes’
All posts filed under “Books & Literature”
Do You Remember?
Pendar Nabipour on the post-Revolution generation of Iran, its collective memories, and the celebration of the popular culture of the 80s and early 90s
Tales of 1,001 Chairs
‘Chairs have always been symbols of power in Egypt’ - a chat with Manar Moursi and David Puig about the phenomenon of Cairo’s street chairs
Iranian Woman
‘Though it has been stifled, suppressed, and outlawed, the voice of the Iranian woman still resonates as boldly and beautifully as ever’
Culture Club
‘What are the salons of this age, and will they be remembered in the same way?’ - the story of Mayy Ziaydah and her legendary literary salon in Cairo
An Epic Remix
Joobin Bekhrad talks to US-based multimedia artist Hamid Rahmanian about his modern visual retelling of Ferdowsi’s epic Persian masterpiece
Null: A Persian Tale
‘… That lonely one turned his head to the vernal moon above, whispering softly, ‘My silent city – where art the soul of thy springs?’
Beirut, I Love You
‘Lebanon was, and always will be schizophrenic’ - A review of Zena El Khalil’s memoir, ‘Beirut, I Love You’, now available in North America
Honour
A reflection on the often-controversial Middle Eastern notion of honour, in the context of Turkish author Elif Shafak’s latest novel of the same name
Savushun
A look at the enduring relevance of Simin Daneshvar’s Persian literary masterpiece, published over 40 years ago