"Flowers Under the Sand: An Anthology of Contemporary Arabic and Muslim Science Fiction and Fantasy"
"A book is like a garden you carry in your pocket."--Arabic proverb cited by co-editor Achmed Khammas in his introduction to "Flowers Under the Sand" (our anthology-in-progress).
There is a fantastic flourishing of this genre which Arabs invented back in the 2nd century. We're giving it the first-class treatment with first-class translators of Arabic literature. On board as translators, Roger Allen, dean of Near East and Middle East Literature at the University of Pennsylvania and translator of many literary works (re "Flowers Under the Sand": "This is an important and overlooked sub-genre of academe"), Raymond Stork, friend and translator of Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz (currently writing a memoir of their friendship and a bio of Mahfouz for Farrar, Straus & Giroux), Peter Theroux, and others including GW Wilson, Muslim-convert, hard-hitting no-nonsense Mideast journalist, and author of the best-selling graphic novel "Cairo" (Vertigo). Yes, we're going to include some very Arabesque graphic novel bits kindly provided to us by Naif Al-Mutawa, CEO of the Kuwait-and-New York based Teshkeel Media Group which publishes the "99," a series of comicbooks featuring the Arabic super-heroes who go by the name of the "99," each one possessing one of the 99 divine attributes of Allah. Teshkeel has the Marvel comics franchise in the Middle East.
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Belle Yang says:
Questions
Has "99" been translated into English? I couldn't find it on Amazon nor did it turn up when I Googled. Thank you for the info on "Cairo." I love Mahfouz and look forward to the biography. Have you read the beautifully drawn graphic novel by Joann Sfar, "The Rabbi's Cat"? It's gorgeous, subtle and witty. He is French of Algerian origin.
I went into "Besher's Mausoleum" and learned that your grandfather was the physcian to a warlord. Was it Zhang Zuolin of Manchuria or his son, Zhang Xueliang?! I wrote "The Odyssey of a Manchurian," which touched a bit upon a young boy's remembrance of the White Russians in Northeastern China.
Alexander Besher says:
Salaam, Willow and Ni Hao,
Salaam, Willow and Ni Hao, Belle!
The "99" has a website in English at http://www.the99.org/ There's some material on their site that you can download or view. (However, we've got the choicest bits about their "Origins" set in 13th century Baghdad when the Mongols were invading. None of that Incredible Hulk in a turban stuff.)
Belle, that would be Zhang Xueliang, son of Zhang Zuolin who got blown up on the train. (Must have been by the al-Qaeda, huh?) Gramps treated Zhang Xueliang when he was a little boy. His father brought him in. I'm not a native son of Harbin. I was born in the British concession in Tianjin. Neither the Brits nor the Chinese were inclined to recognize me as a national, however. Not that I blame them. I was lucky to get out of China alive. Parents carried me aboard one of the last foreign devil steamers in a laundry bag. Pirates were waiting for the ship downriver, but an American Air Force plane showed up in the nick of time and strafed them. That pilot is my ideal of the perfect literary agent, now that I think of it! They're there when you need them, not when it suits them.
Thanks for the tip re Joann Sfar, will definitely check the book out. BTW, I look forward to getting my hands on a copy of "Odyssey." Sounds fantastic. I collect all sorts of memorabilia from that era.
Re our anthology of contemporary Arabic and Muslim science fiction and fantasy (we added "Muslim" to the subtitle so we that can include Willow!), here's a shout out to anyone out there who can assist with advice re translators:
A number of stories are by writers from the Arabic diaspora. Hence, they're written in German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Can anyone recommend any translators with literary sensibilities who can render those languages into English?
Also, I'm trying to connect with Salman Rushdie. Anyone out there with his e-addy who can forward my mail to him?
Shukran!
alexbesher@yahoo.com
G. Willow Wilson says:
Thanks for the kudos,
Thanks for the kudos, Alexander! To answer your reader's question, The 99 has been translated into English, but it's pretty hard to find...I would go to your local comics shop and ask them to order it for you if they don't have it in stock.