September: A Focus on Comics & Graphic Novels
This month, we talk to Arabic-comix-focused agent Lina Khatib, comix translators Anam Zafar & Nadiyah Abdellatif, author-illustrator Lena Merhe, look at big comix prizes & upcoming events, and more.
Hopefully, you’ve already heard about Deena Mohammed’s blockbuster graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik (published in the UK as Your Wish Is My Command), translated by Deena herself. But there is also a wider world of Arabic comix and graphic novels to be explored (and the rights purchased! and translated!).
🔦Agent spotlight: Lina Alkhatib
Scotland-based literary agent Lina Alkhatib previously worked at Cairo Comix and represents Egyptian and Lebanese comics artists, including Magdy El-Shafee (whose Metro appeared in Chip Rossetti’s translation and whose popular The English Spy is available); Rania Amin (graphic novelist and author of the popular Farhana books series); and Lena Merhej (whose Yoghurt & Jam has already appeared in Spanish and French and is set to appear in Anam Zafar and Nadiyah Abdellatif’s English translation this fall).
If you want to get in touch with Lina, drop her a note at <linalkhtb@gmail.com>.
🔦Translator spotlight: Anam Zafar & Nadiyah Abdellatif
When ArabLit Quarterly needs a graphic-novel translator, we turn to the team of Anam Zafar & Nadiyah Abdellatif. (Well, except when it’s work by the fantastic Bahraini comix artist Zainab Almahdi, who works best with fellow Bahraini Ali Al-Jamri.)
This fall, Anam & Nadiyah will see their first book-length graphic novel project come to be: an English translation of Lena Merhej’s Yoghurt and Jam, set to appear with Balestier Press. They came to the book via a workshop on translating humor. Nadiyah says that — when she thinks about translating graphic novels — when remembers “a workshop by Sarah Ardizzone on translating graphic novels at Bristol Translates 2022 being especially helpful — it taught me to really look closely at the images and think hard about the story they’re telling and the kind of voice they have.”
Anam added: “You have to make sure the translation doesn’t contradict the images in any way; you need to consider what is being said with words only, images only, or both; whether this balance will or can be mirrored exactly in the English version or not. I wouldn’t say it’s easier or harder than translating prose, just different. What I loved about translating Yoghurt and Jam was immersing myself in visual art as well as words, which both give me equal joy in life.”
You can read the whole talk with Anam & Nadiyah at ArabLit.
🔦Author-artist spotlight: Lena Merhej
When we asked Lebanese comix artists Amy Chiniara and Rawand Issa to tell us about her favorite Lebanese graphic novels, Amy gamely named six books while Rawand named just one: Lena Merhej’s أعتقد أننا سنكون هادئين في الحرب المقبلة (I Think We Will Be Chill in the Next War). Merhej, a co-founder of Samandal, is a central pillar of the Arabic graphic novel scene. Although she also works in other genres, Lena loves comics:
“Comics to me are the balance between animation and picture books. I like to articulate spaces and characters, I love stories, and I like books. How juxtaposed sequences tell a story is fascinating to me and an ongoing search and experimentation. Also, when I think about all the books I contributed to, my heart gets bigger.”
You can read the whole talk with Lena at ArabLit.
Awards for Comix & Graphic Novels
There are a number of comix-focused awards for Arab and Arabic works. Top prizes include the Egypt-based Cairo Comix awards (awarded annually in November), the Lebanon-based Mahmoud Kahil Awards (awarded in April), and the annual awards at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Alger (or FIBDA, which runs in Algiers each October).
The 2023 winners of the Mahmoud Kahil Awards, this past April, were Omar Abdallat, Jorj Abou Mhaya, Ganzeer, Tracy Chahwan, and Hanane Kai.
Don’t miss updates about FIBDA in October and the Cairo Comix awards in November.
Upcoming comix events
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, which is set to run Friday September 29 - October 1, will have a spotlight on Lebanese, Tunisian, Moroccan, and Egyptian comix artists, with appearances by Bernard Hage, Fouad Mezher, George Khoury (Jad), Lina Ghaibeh, Mai Koraiem, Mehdi Annassi, Mohamed Salah, Seif Eddin Nechi, and Shennawy.
A few days later, the 15th annual Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Alger is set for October 4-8 in Algiers.
More about the artists appearing at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival on their LICAF 2023 Guests page.
Other upcoming events
This year’s Riyadh International Book Fair, which is growing in its ambitions each year, is set for September 28-October 7. An International Publishers Conference will also take place on Oct. 4.
Beyrouth Livres is set for October 2-8 this year.
The Lebanese International Book Fair will be held this year October 13 to 22. Find more at @Leb_bookfair on Twitter.
As far as we know, the Casablanca International Children's and Youth Book Fair will continue to go ahead Nov 15-22.
Also: If you’re looking for a way to help with earthquake relief, US-based scholar-translator Brahim El Guabli has set up this well-thought-out GoFundMe campaign, and Food Bank Maroc is also doing good work.
💰Grants, subsidies, & support
The Sharjah Book Fair is coming up November 1-12. Publishers who attend the fair are invited to apply for support for translations.
Deadlines for applications to the Looren and Max Geilinger Excellence Grants 2024 are due October 29, 2023. They write: “The Looren Excellence Grants are aimed at translators of works written in Switzerland at any time in history. Alongside writers with Swiss nationality, these also include anyone living and working in Switzerland on a long-term basis.” They have confirmed that this would include, for instance, translations of work by Ibrahim al-Koni.
If you know if grants or subsidies targeting Arabic literature, please let us know at info@arablit.org.
Arabic (comix) literature for young readers
Despite the ubiquitous presence of comics like Mickey and Majed, there aren’t as many indie Arabic comix for young readers as one might expect. There’s the WatWat comix project from Samandal, which has published several books for young readers, and there are a few graphic novels for young readers from places like the Palestine Writing Workshop.
A recent favorite is Miranda Beshara and Khaled Jarada’s Jamila, also published by the Palestine Writing Workshop. You can see excerpts on Miranda’s LinkedIn, and read a review on Takam Tikou which notes, “It’s not easy for a 14-year-old Egyptian girl to manage her curly hair, her braces, her rapidly swelling breasts, the comments of family members and boys in the street... Especially when your name is Jamila, ‘Belle’!” Reading level: 10+.
Interested in more about Arabic literature for young readers? Visit arabkidlitnow.com.
New magazine issue alert
The Morocco-based magazine I Came for Couscous features “voices and creative minds from the Arab world.”
Find out more at their website, icameforcouscous.com, and at this interview with Totally Dublin.