Shows / BULAQ | بولاق
BULAQ | بولاق
BULAQ is a book-centric podcast co-hosted by Ursula Lindsey (in Amman, Jordan) and M Lynx Qualey (in Rabat, Morocco). It focuses on Arabic literature in translation and is named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820. Produced by Sowt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
BULAQ | بولاقWe Read Ramallah
The Book of Ramallah collects stories set in and around Palestine's administrative capital, which, Maya Abu Al-Hayat writes in her introduction, “represents…
BULAQ | بولاقMidnight in Cairo
Raph Cormack is author of Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring ‘20s, which chronicles the lives of many of Egypt's biggest stars of the early…
BULAQ | بولاقA Thousand And One Dreams
An abbreviated version of The Nights will be coming out in Fall 2021, in Seale's translation for W. W. Norton. The fuller Nights is currently set for 2023. You…
BULAQ | بولاقBest of 2021
For our end-of-year book list, we made up our own categories -- from “best poet I hadn't heard of before” ” to “best book about cannibalism” to “best book that…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Book of Travels
We talk to scholar Elias Muhanna about translating a magical, delightful eighteenth-century travelogue. In 1707 Hanna Diyab journeyed from his native Aleppo as…
BULAQ | بولاقSo Kill Them Back!
We look at new writing from Syria and about the experiences of Syrian refugees, including Ramy Al-Asheq's Ever Since I Did Not Die, a book he categorizes not…
BULAQ | بولاقPoems from Palestine
We read from the work of Palestinian poets Maya Abu Al Hayyat, Fady Joudah, Asmaa Azaizeh and Najwan Darwish, who writes: “Death has liberated me/ from the…
BULAQ | بولاقWalking Through Fire: A Look Back at Nawal El Saadawi
The Egyptian feminist writer and doctor Nawal El Saadawi always spoke her mind. Her early books were explosive testimonials, based on her medical practice and…
BULAQ | بولاقWarda: Diary of a Revolutionary
Sonallah Ibrahim's Warda is the story of a female fighter in the 1960s and 70s Dhofar rebellion in Oman, and of the Egyptian intellectual who, decades later…
BULAQ | بولاقFootball Writing: The Passion and the Provocation
Football and Arabic literature haven't always had an easy relationship. Football has inspired famous authors like Mahmoud Darwish, and anonymous fans who have…
BULAQ | بولاقWhat You May Have Missed
We're back! Catch up on everything you missed over the summer, including Women in Translation Month and a Fall reading list full of intriguing new titles. Show…
BULAQ | بولاقIman Mersal: Books You Need To Read & Need to Write
Iman Mersal's work spans poetry and scholarship, personal essay and biography. In 2021, Mersal received the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for her deeply insightful…
BULAQ | بولاقImpostures: A Rogue’s Many Tales
The Maqamat of Al-Hariri is a story collection from 11th century Iraq that showcases the Arabic language's dazzling, disorienting possibilities. Michael…
BULAQ | بولاقDriss Chraibi’s Portrait of an Angry Young Man
This episode focuses on Driss Chraibi's The Simple Past (Le Passé Simple), a Moroccan novel about a very angry young man in revolt against his father's tyranny…
BULAQ | بولاقA Conversation in Cairo About Making Art Under Pressure
We recorded this episode in Cairo with author, translator, and Mada Masr culture editor Yasmine Zohdi. We talked about making art in difficult and precarious…
BULAQ | بولاقWork-Lit Balance
This week we talk about how MLQ's latest passion project, the Arab Lit Quarterly, and the ups and downs of making a living (sort of) writing about books…
BULAQ | بولاقKarl Sharro Only Takes Soccer Seriously
We talk to humorist Karl Sharro about the origins story of his Twitter alter-ego Karl ReMarks and about finding the ideal online nemesis. Marcia takes issue…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Interesting Case of a Saudi Novel
In Aziz Muhammad's The Critical Case of a Man Named K, an unnamed narrator is diagnosed with leukemia. His 40-week journal, shaped by his readings of Kafka…
BULAQ | بولاقAftershocks
An earthquake inspired Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine's Agadir, published in French in 1967 and translated to English by Jake Syersack and Pierre Joris. Part playtext…
BULAQ | بولاقWomen In Love and In Lust
We Wrote in Symbols: Love and Lust by Arab Women Writers brings together fiction and poetry by more than 70 women over a span of more than 1500 years. Editor…
BULAQ | بولاقWe Read Ramallah
The Book of Ramallah collects stories set in and around Palestine's administrative capital, which, Maya Abu Al-Hayat writes in her introduction, “represents…
BULAQ | بولاقReading and Writing Behind Bars
“Writer, criminal, and ex-journalist” Ahmed Naji released two books in 2020: the speculative fiction novel (والنمور لحجرتي) And the Tigers to My Room (2020)…
BULAQ | بولاقMidnight in Cairo
Raph Cormack is author of the soon-to-be-released Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring ‘20s, which chronicles the lives of many of Egypt's biggest…
BULAQ | بولاقSex & Second Chances
Emma Ramadan translated two Moroccan novels in 2020: A Country for Dying by Abdellah Taïa & Straight from the Horse's Mouth by Meryem Alaoui. They are very…
BULAQ | بولاقCairo Modern: The Unstable City
We take a look at a new book about the architecture of twentieth century Cairo, and discuss the Egyptian capital's past, present and future, and the way…
BULAQ | بولاقGetting Away With Murder
Our guest this week was once told there were no Algerian crime novels. She begs to differ. We discuss the many examples of the genre and its evolution in…
BULAQ | بولاقKitchen Talk
In this episode we explore the relationship between cooking and writing. With special guest Anny Gaul, we talk about the origins of national dishes such as…
BULAQ | بولاقA Thousand And One Dreams
Poet, artist and translator Yasmine Seale is at work on a fresh translation of the Thousand and One Nights. Show Notes: An abbreviated version of The Nights…
BULAQ | بولاقParanormal
The adaptation of the Egyptian writer Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's hugely popular horror/fantasy series into the Netflix show Paranormal has excited and in some cases…
BULAQ | بولاقBook Club: Season of Migration to the North
By listener demand, we re-read Season of Migration to the North, the 1966 classic by the Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih. Its unnamed narrator returns to his…
BULAQ | بولاقLove and Silence: Rediscovering Enayat El Zayat
We're re-running one of our favorite episodes. In 1993, the Egyptian poet and writer Iman Mersal picked up an unknown novel by a forgotten writer from the 60s…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Pillar of Salt
We discuss the classic 1953 novel by the Jewish Tunisian Francophone writer Albert Memmi, who died this year. This sharp and beautiful book is many things: a…
BULAQ | بولاقRevolt Against the Sun
Nazik al-Mala'ika was an Iraqi woman poet of great influence and renown through the 1940s, 50s and 60s. She pioneered new poetic forms and re-invented a…
BULAQ | بولاقTrailer: Fall 2020 Season of BULAQ
Ursula Lindsey and Marcia Lynx Qualey discuss books from across the Arab region and new translations from Arabic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Cat Is Out of The Bag
This episode looks at the Fall 2020 issue of ArabLit Quarterly, which focuses on cats: in contemporary Arabic stories, in erotic poetry, in medieval…
BULAQ | بولاقTen out of Ten
We only took a one month break but there are so many new (and a few old) books to talk about! We put together a list of ten titles of interest to start out the…
BULAQ | بولاقWomen in Translation: The Frightened Ones
We talk about the Syrian writer Dima Wannous' haunting novel The Frightened Ones, translated by Elisabeth Jacquette. It's a book about fear, panic and anxiety…
BULAQ | بولاقWomen in Translation: Reporting While Arab and Female
We talk about a collection of essays by female journalists from the region. Guilt, anger, recklessness, determination. There are many different and movingly…
BULAQ | بولاقTalking Shit
Beirut writer Lina Mounzer reads from her essay “Waste Away: Notes on Beirut's Broken Sewage System.” We discuss the current situation in Lebanon and…
BULAQ | بولاقMurder, They Wrote
Our guest this week was once told there were no Algerian crime novels. She begs to differ. We discuss the many examples of the genre and its evolution in…
BULAQ | بولاقWidows, Conmen and Crimes
We discuss a book that tells the stories of women who rallied to ISIS; one that focuses on a Franco-Moroccan family grappling with the end of colonialism; and…
BULAQ | بولاقTazmamart
We talk about Morocco's most infamous secret prison; about fathers and sons; about survivors who tell their stories and writers who borrow (or steal?) them…
BULAQ | بولاقKitchen Talk
In this episode we explore the relationship between cooking and writing. With special guest Anny Gaul, we talk about the origins of national dishes such as…
BULAQ | بولاقLocked-In Lit
We talk about a few new books — ones that provide a welcome escape, and ones that seem particularly daunting — and about how hard it is to write, read, think…
BULAQ | بولاقCold Trail
In 1993, the Egyptian poet and writer Iman Mersal picked up an unknown novel by a forgotten writer from the 60s. And so began her long wanderings in search of…
BULAQ | بولاقTight Spaces
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click We discuss an acclaimed novel set during the first Palestinian Intifada and one inspired by a tiny…
BULAQ | بولاقSentence to Hope
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click We spend most of this episode discussing the work and life of the Syrian playwright Sa'dallah Wannous, and…
BULAQ | بولاقA Woman Shaped by Fear
We talk about the Syrian writer Dima Wannous' haunting novel The Frightened Ones, translated by Elisabeth Jacquette. It's a book about fear, panic and anxiety…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Shape of Cairo
We take a look at a new book about the architecture of twentieth century Cairo, and discuss the Egyptian capital's past, present and future, and the way…
BULAQ | بولاقBulaq: trailer
BULAQ is a podcast about contemporary writing from and about the Middle East and North Africa. We talk about books written in Aleppo, Cairo, Marrakech and…
BULAQ | بولاقLittle Magazines
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click We talk about the landscape and history of independent publishing in the region, our own experiences working…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Not So Simple Past
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click This episode focuses on Driss Chraibi's The Simple Past (Le Passé Simple), a Moroccan novel about a very…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Elephant Is The Room
We recorded this episode in Cairo with author, translator, and Mada Masr culture editor Yasmine Zohdi. We talked about making art in difficult and precarious…
BULAQ | بولاقWriting to Remember
This episode is dedicated to the work of the Moroccan film-maker, novelist, artist, and poet Ahmed Bouanani – much of which has yet to be released, and much of…
BULAQ | بولاقWork-Lit Balance
We talk about passion projects, the value of intellectual labor, and the ups and downs of making a living (sort of) writing about books. Hosted on Acast. See…
BULAQ | بولاقTop Five
We discuss some of our favorite books from the past year, and some titles we're excited to get our hands on soon. Show Notes Our Women on the Ground: Essays by…
BULAQ | بولاقThe Revolution While Dreaming
We talk about a newly released collection of five compelling and highly quotable interviews with the great late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, titled…
BULAQ | بولاقWriters Are Not Magic
In the first half of the episode, we paid tribute to Jordanian poet, activist, novelist, travel writer, and editor Amjad Nasser (1955-2019), who died at the…
BULAQ | بولاق"Insufficiently Westernized"
We discuss two novels set in Iraq -- one featuring a despondent policeman, and one featuring a determined grandma and her donkey. Also, how John Updike once…
BULAQ | بولاقDisappearing Palestinians
We talk about two festivals (one long-established, one brand new) that celebrate Palestinian literature; an author who was penalized for supporting BDS; and a…