The Library and Book Club
The Banipal Arab British Centre Library of Modern Arab Literature (BALMAL) is a unique literary resource in the heart of London, containing volumes of fiction, poetry, plays and memoirs by Arab authors translated into English or in the English original. This collection began at the 2008 London Book Fair where, for the first time ever, Arab publishers were the market focus. Banipal and the London Book Fair collaborated on a display of literary works donated by publishers. These books formed the foundation of BALMAL, which formally opened in January 2010 with a special reception the evening after the Award ceremony of the 2009 Saif Ghobash Banipal Arabic Literary Translation Prize. The library has been growing ever since and now contains over a 1000 volumes of literature.
It is updated regularly with new novels, collections of poetry and of short stories, plays, autobiographies, memoirs and some volumes of literary criticism.
Lifetime membership of the library costs just £10 – click here for more details.
To browse online the rich collection of Arab fiction in the BALMAL Library, click here
Each year there is a steady stream of new books – fiction and poetry – in translation added to the library shelves. We try to make sure that all the entries each year to the Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize in the Library, are there, ready to be borrowed. There is a special display each year for the entries into the Prize, then of the shortlisted works and finally the winning translation – which for the 2018 prize, awarded in Spring 2019, was The President's Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli, translated by Luke Leafgren.
Among the new books in the Library:
Some of the popular titles are:
The Bamboo Stalk(paperback and hardback editions)
by Saud Alsanousi, translated by Jonathan Wright
The Longing of the Dervish by Hammour Ziada,
also translated by Jonathan Wright.
The Book of the Sultan's Seal by Youssef Rakha,
the winning novel of the
2015 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
translated by Paul Starkey. Click here for more information.
Land of No Rain by Amjad Nasser,
translated by Jonathan Wright, and commended for
the 2015 Prize. Click here for more information.
Become a Library member and you can borrow up to three books. Among the books you can find all the 29 entries for the 2015 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, including Dates on my Fingers by Muhsin al-Ramli (to see library entry click here).
You can find all the information about the Library by clicking here.
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Browse the catalogue by Author or by Title:
BALMAL is easy to join – just a one-off fee of £10 and you get your library card and membership with which you can borrow up to three books. If you want to browse and visit, just contact the Arab British Centre on 020 7832 1310 or email info@arabbritishcentre.org.uk to make an appointment. The Library is open 9.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday and 9.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays. For more information click here.
We look forward to the library encouraging the reading of contemporary literature in translation from the Arab world. Banipal maintains an up-to-date list of translated literary works by Arab authors – which at present includes over 1,200 titles – with the goal of adding as many as possible to the library. The fiction, poetry, plays and memoirs are mostly translated from Arabic, although works in any language produced by authors of Arab heritage are included, so the library also contains literature translated from French, German and Dutch, and some works originally written in English. There are also volumes of literary criticism.
BALMAL library is managed by the Arab British Centre and also includes a collection of works about the Arab world covering history, politics, travel, art and cookery. There is a total of over 2,000 titles. For more information click here.
The books include the entries for each year's entries of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize and that includes all the prizewinning titles from 2006. This year's entries are available on short loan of one week, instead of the usual three.
• The Corpse Washer, written and translated by Sinan Antoon – winning title of the 2014 prize.
• Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan, translated by Jonathan Wright, and A Land Without Jasmine by Wagdi al-Ahdal, translated by William M Hutchins, were co-winning titles for the 2013 prize.
• A Muslim Suicide by Bensalem Himmich, translated by Roger Allen – the winning 2012 title. The two other novels by Bensalem Himmich translated by Roger Allen are also in the library. To go to their entries, click on The Polymath and/or The Theocrat.
Other authors with works in the library:
Mohamed el-Bisatie died in 2012 after a long illness. His five works in English translation are in the Library:
Houses Behind the Trees, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies
Clamor of the Lake, translated by Hala Halim
Over the Bridge, translated by Nancy Roberts
Hunger, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies
Drumbeat, translated by Peter Daniel
Banipal Recommends
– great reads in the library, recommended by translators, editors and reviewers for Banipal.
Click the book titles to read the library entries.
Click the Review title to read the reviews.
Recommended by translators
Humphrey Davies (twice a winner and twice a runner-up of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation):
Beer in the Snooker Hall by Waguih Ghali.
“A mournful and truculent account of the tensions between Egypt and the West, insider and outsider, idealism and disillusionment, that is as fresh today as when it was written in the years following another revolution.”
Barbara Romaine (runner-up in the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for her translation of Spectres by Radwa Ashour):
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies.
“I (doubtless in company with others) would like to propose Denys Johnson-Davies's gorgeous translation of Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih. The novel itself has of course become a classic of modern Arabic literature; as for the English rendition by Johnson-Davies, it is one of the best translations from Arabic to English (possibly THE best) that I have ever seen. My husband, who is a native speaker of Arabic, loves this novel, too; like me, he has read it in both Arabic and English and admires the translation about equally with the original.”
In the Library
Adonis: Selected Poems
translated by Khaled Mattawa
Read the Review by Stephen Watts in Banipal 41.
The Human is the Poetry of the Universe
In the Library
Yalo by Elias Khoury
translated by Humphrey Davies
Read the Review reviewed by James Dalglish in Banipal 40.
“Blood was. The hawk was. Pain was.”
In the Library
In a Fertile DesertSelected, translated and introduced by Denys Johnson-Davies
Read the Review by Alice Johnson in Banipal 42
In the Library
The Baghdad Blues by Sinan Antoon
Read the Review by Alfred Corn in Banipal 36.
Evoking more than devastation and death
In the Library
Wild Mulberries by Iman Humaydan Younes
Translated by Michelle Hartman
Read the Review by Aamer Hussein in Banipal 33.
The map and mosaic of Sarah's journey
During the Stay at Home Coronavirus pandemic, meetings take place online with Zoom
6.30-8.00pm
Email bookclub@banipal.co.uk for information about future meetings. Log-in instructions will be sent to participants who have signed up.
NEXT MEETING
WEDNESDAY 31 MARCH, by Zoom
Email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to register and be sent the Zoom login-in details.
The book under discussion: The Old Woman and the River by the late Kuwaiti author Ismail Fahd Ismail, translated by Sophia Vasalou, published by Interlink Books, 2019, and shortlisted for the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize. There will be a short Q&A with Sophia Vasalou during the first half hour. The novel's Arabic original, Al-Sabiliat, was shortlisted for the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Check it out on GoodReads.
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WED, 24 FEBRUARY 2021
The book was VELVET by Huzama Habayeb, translated by Kay Heikkinen, winner of the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize. Kay joined us for the last half of a very lively discussion
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WED, 20 JANUARY 2021
The Egyptian Assassin by Ezzedine C. Fishere, translated by Jonathan Wright, who attended the meeting, was shortlisted for the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize
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WED, 9 DECEMBER 2020
Ice by Sonallah Ibrahim, translated by Margaret Litvin, published by Seagull Books
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WED, 4 NOVEMBER 2020
The Eye of the Mirror by Liana Badr, who gave the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize Lecture on 11 November. It is translated by Samira Kawar, who attended the meeting.
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WED 7 OCTOBER 2020
Mama Hissa's Mice by Saud Alsanousi, translated by Sawad Hussain and published by Amazon Crossing. Both the author and translator attended the meeting
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WED. 29 JULY 2020
The Frightened Ones by Syrian author Dima Wannous,
translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, who joined us for the Zoom discussion, courtesy the Arab British Centre.
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24 JUNE 2020
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
translated by Elisabeth Jaquette.
Author Adania Shibli joined the discussion
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20 MAY 2020
The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon
translated by Jonathan Wright
This meeting took place online with ZOOM, courtesy of the Arab British Centre.
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2 APRIL 2020
This meeting took place online with ZOOM, courtesy of the Arab British Centre. The book under discussion was the 2019 Saif GHobash Banipal Prizewinner Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
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2019
30 APRIL 2019
2018
12 DECEMBER 2018
The book under discussion was In the Spider's Room by Muhammad Abdelnabi, translated by Jonathan Wright.
1 NOVEMBER 2018
The book under discussion was Concerto Al-Quds by Adonis, translated by Khaled Mattawa.
6 SEPTEMBER 2018
The book under discussion was Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani, translated by Hilary Kilpatrick, and the film adaptation The Dupes. This event supported SAFAR - A Literary Journey through Arab Cinema.
The book under discussion was Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North.
23 MAY 2017
The book under discussion was the 2017 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize-winning book The Bamboo Stalk by Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi.
The winning translator Jonathan Wright joined the discussion.
30 March 2017
Dates on My Fingers by Muhsin Al-Ramli, translated by Luke Leafgren
9 February 2017
No Knives in the Kitchens of this City by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
2016
24 November 2016
The Longing of the Dervish by Hammour Ziada, translated by Jonathan Wright
2015
28 October 2015
Sykes-Picot: The Legacy Five Modern Short Plays by Hannah Khalil, Hassan Abdurazzak and Joshua Hinds, published by Arts Canteen, London
With reading of The Tune is Always Better on the Outside by Hassan Abdulrazzak, with actresses Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso and Dilek Rose.
The book is available in the BALMAL Library here
4 June 2015
AFRICAN TITANICS by Abu Bakr Khaal translated by Charis Bredin
Charis opened discussion about the book and translating it. Friends of the author attended. Click here for a photo sent on to the author.
Click here to read a review of the book in Banipal 52.
Click here to read a review in The National newspaper
19 March 2015
THE CORPSE WASHER by Sinan Antoon, translated by the author
Winner of the 2014 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
22 January 2015
The Arch and The Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari, translated by Aida Bamia
Read the Tanjara Blogspot report on the 24 February celebration at Waterstone's Piccadilly with the author/translator Sinan Antoon
To read the review in Banipal 50, click here.
The Arabic original jointly won the 2011 International Prize of Arabic Fiction.
2014
Other Lives by Iman Humaydan, translated by Michelle Hartman
House of the Wolf by Ezzat El Kamhawi translated by Nancy Roberts
The Silence and the Roar by Nihad Sirees, translated by Max Weiss
2013
A Land Without Jasmine by Wajdi al-Ahdal translated by William M Hutchins, joint winner of the 2013 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation
Vertigo by Ahmed Mourad, translated by Robin Moger
In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
Short Stories from the Arab World - storytelling with Banipal Book Club at Kensington Central Library, at Nour Festival of the Arts
To read or download the stories, click here
Endings by the late Abd al-Rahman Munif (1933-2004), translated by Roger Allen
Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies
A Muslim Suicide by Bensalem Himmich, translated by Roger Allen
The Open Door by Latifa al-Zayyat
The Tiller of Waters by Hoda Barakat, translated by Marilyn Booth
The Journals of Sarab Affan by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, translated by Ghassan Nasr
Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan, translated by Jonathan Wright
Gold Dust by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated by Elliott Colla
Out Of It by Selma Dabbagh
First Meeting 19th April 2012
The Tobacco Keeper by Ali Bader, translated by Amira Noweira
Our meetings have been featured in Brownbook and The National.