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Index / Activities / Books and publications / The Balqís-Casa Árabe Reading Club is back
The Balqís-Casa Árabe Reading Club is back
The Balqís bookshop and Casa Árabe are continuing to provide this space which brings Arab literature and thought closer to the public, with new sessions in 2017.
At the Balqís-Casa Árabe Reading Club, both classical works and books by contemporary authors are read and discussed, as well as the latest works to be published in the Arabic language.
This reading club was created with the idea of forming an ongoing group of people to bring together faithful literature lovers, but also to provide a meeting space for all those who wish to learn more, through novels, essays, poetry and comics, about the legacy of Arab culture and its influence on thought and the social sciences, as well as the current socio-political situation in the Arab world, through different perspectives and forms of expression, in a way that complements the regular conferences organized by Casa Árabe.
With this initiative, we hope to contribute to increasing awareness about great names in Arab literature, which, thanks to translators, publishers, bookstores and certain institutions, are gradually becoming easier to access for readers in our country. To do so, we will rely on the inestimable help of individuals with great knowledge about Arab authors, whose proposals of books and the debate sessions held after reading them, will enrich the reading of these works.
The Balqís Bookshop will be giving special discounts on the price of the books chosen for this reading club.
Those interested must sign up for each session at least ten days in advance by writing to the e-mail address: libreriacasaarabe@gmail.com
This reading club was created with the idea of forming an ongoing group of people to bring together faithful literature lovers, but also to provide a meeting space for all those who wish to learn more, through novels, essays, poetry and comics, about the legacy of Arab culture and its influence on thought and the social sciences, as well as the current socio-political situation in the Arab world, through different perspectives and forms of expression, in a way that complements the regular conferences organized by Casa Árabe.
With this initiative, we hope to contribute to increasing awareness about great names in Arab literature, which, thanks to translators, publishers, bookstores and certain institutions, are gradually becoming easier to access for readers in our country. To do so, we will rely on the inestimable help of individuals with great knowledge about Arab authors, whose proposals of books and the debate sessions held after reading them, will enrich the reading of these works.
The Balqís Bookshop will be giving special discounts on the price of the books chosen for this reading club.
Those interested must sign up for each session at least ten days in advance by writing to the e-mail address: libreriacasaarabe@gmail.com
Twitter: @LibreriaBalqis and @Casaarabe
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Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad, by Alia Mamdouh
March 22, 20177:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe headquarters / Balqís Bookstore (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. Advanced registration required.Those interested must sign up at least ten days in advance for each session, by writing to: libreriacasaarabe@gmail.com
First session of the Reading Club organized by Casa Árabe and the Balqís Bookshop in the year 2017.At this session, to be held on March 22, the work Naphtalene: A Novel of Baghdad, by Alia Mamdouh, will be read and commented on. The gathering will be directed and moderated by Nieves Paradela.
From the perspective of a nine-year-old girl, the author describes everyday life in a working class neighborhood of Baghdad during the forties and fifties, times of upheaval in terms of the country’s political and social life. The universe of childhood is brought back to us through memory: remembrances which are preserved like old pieces of clothing that nobody uses anymore, amid naphtalene mothballs in an old trunk.
Nieves Paradela is a professor of Arab Studies at the UAM. Her topics of research include the Arabic language and Arabic teaching, contemporary Arab literature and translation, and the intellectual history of the modern Arab world. Amongst other works, she is the author of Manual de Sintaxis Árabe (Arabic Syntax Handbook, UAM, 1998) and El otro laberinto español. Viajeros árabes a España entre el siglo XVII y 1936 (Arab Travelers to Spain from the Seventeenth Century to 1936, Madrid, Siglo XXI, 2005). She has translated works by Lebanese, Palestinian, Egyptian and Tunisian authors.
Book information:
Author: Mamdouh, Alia
Publisher: Ediciones del Oriente y del Mediterráneo
Year: 2000
Country: Iraq
Pages: 252
ISBN: 978-84-87198-64-9
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Season of Migration to the North by Tayyeb Saleh
April 18, 20177:30 p.m.MADRIDCasa Árabe headquarters / Balqís Bookstore (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. Prior registration required.Those interested must sign up at least ten days in advance for each session by writing to: libreriacasaarabe@gmail.com
In Spanish.The second session of the Balqís/Casa Árabe Reading Club will be held on Tuesday, April 18. You may now register.The session will be moderated and directed by Abdul Hadi Sadoun.
Season of Migration to the North (in Arabic موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال) is a novel written and published in 1966 by Sudanese author Tayyeb Saleh. It describes the life of Mustafa Said, a provincial Sudanese immigrant who spends seven years in the United Kingdom. The author’s own experience is a crucial part of this work, which discusses topics such as colonialism, sexuality and the cultural differences between East and West.
Tayyeb Saleh is a writer who was born in Dabba, Sudan in 1929. He died in London on February 18, 2009. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern Arab novel, and his book Season of Migration to the North was declared “the most important Arab novel of the twentieth century” in 2001
by both the Academy of Arab Literature and Arab critics.
Abdul Hadi Sadoun was born in Baghdad in 1968 and currently lives in Madrid. He is a writer, Hispanist and publisher. He has published dozens of books in Arabic and Spanish, most notably including Campos del extraño (published by Alhulia, 2010) and Memorias de un perro iraquí (Memories of an Iraqi Dog, published in Spanish by Calambur, 2016).
