Modern Arab literature hits shelves worldwide

London: It has long been a challenge to get contemporary Arabic literature recognised as one of the great literatures of the world. But thanks to initiatives coming from the UAE the situation is improving.

Last year the London-based international magazine for modern Arab writing, Banipal, established a prize for the translation into English of a modern Arabic work of fiction.

It was funded by Mohammad Ahmad Suwaidi of Abu Dhabi, poet, publisher and supporter of many cultural activities. Without his support the prize would not have been launched.

The first prize was awarded to Humphrey Davies for his translation of the epic account of modern Palestine, Gate of the Sun by the Lebanese author Elias Khoury.

For 2007 and the next few years the funding of the prize has been guaranteed by the UAE's Ghobash family. This has been on the initiative of Omer Saif Ghobash, Deputy CEO of the Emirates Foundation.

A son of a former federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in the UAE, the late Saif Ghobash, Omer has chosen to fund the prize in memory of his father. So we now have the Saif Gobash-Banipal Prize.

The award was made in London on November 8 at the South Bank Centre in London. It was one of seven prizes for works translated into English. Other prizes have been sponsored by individuals, by governments, by embassies and by foundations.

Arabic literature translated into English was celebrated alongside works translated from Spanish, German, French, Dutch (or Flemish), Hebrew and Russian.

The prize was presented by Sir Peter Stothard, editor of The Times Literary Supplement. The award winner was Farouk Abdul Wahab for his translation of The Lodging House by Khairy Shalabi. Both translator and author are Egyptian.

The translator is a Professor at the University of Chicago. The author has published over 70 books but this is the first to be translated into English.

The Arabic original had already won the Naguib Mahfouz Prize. The American University in Cairo Press arranged the translation which now joins their excellent list of Arabic literature available in English.

The novel takes place in the 1960s and tells the story of a man who has been expelled from a teacher training college for beating up one of his instructors. He lives among the desperately poor of the Delta city of Damanhour - among thieves, gamblers, drug dealers and prostitutes, men and women who live on their wits.

Works of quality

The novel lacks a narrative theme but is - like One Thousand and One Nights, full of stories about people living on the edge of society.

But there is an optimism in Shalabi's novel. Fidelity, love and solidarity are virtues that bind the down and outs together. The characters of the novel are living in an Egypt that has been a republic under Jamal Abdul Nasser for only a decade.

The backward glances at the period of the monarchy are not sympathetic to the ancient regime. On the other hand the republican present is not all sweetness and light. We encounter the operations of the Muslim Brothers and of police repression.

The award of the prizes, for both the Arabic original and the English translation, ensures a wide interest and readership for the novel. It should also be a spur to novelists and publishers to produce works of quality.

Prizes, recognition, reward and readers are the returns for good work that is recognised. Competitions and the award of prizes can be exciting and controversial.

The publicity that can result from an award guarantees readers and attention all over the world. Contemporary Arab literature is coming out of the closet.

Dr Peter Clark is a Middle Eastern culture specialist