At her Arabic Literature (in English) weblog M. Lynx Qualey has a Q & A with author and Man Booker International Prize judge Marina Warner, including about the wonderful Library of Arabic Literature.
(A note at the end suggests: "This interview first appeared on the Library of Arabic Literature website", but I can't find a trace of it there.)
Some interesting observations about the Man Booker judging process, Warner also mentioning that Radwa Ashour "was a strong candidate for the shortlist if she hadn't died", and:
One of the writers whom we read, who unfortunately didn't quite make the list, is Bensalem Himmich. And Himmich is a very strong example of writing about the past in a very detailed, rich way -- as Gamal al-Ghitani does, in Zayni Barakat, a novel I also admire profoundly. These are exemplary historical writings, that bring the past into living being, but at the same time they're actually palimpsests through which one sees the present time.As far back as 2010 I suggested Himmich was among the strongest Arabic Nobel-contenders (along with al-Ghitani -- as well as Ibrahim al-Koni, who is a Man Booker International Prize finalist this year); see reviews of The Polymath and The Theocrat. Add a Comment