Books in the CMES Modern Middle East Literatures in Translation series

The first full-length work of the distinguished Yemeni writer Mohammad Abdul-Wali to appear in English

The Black Rose of Halfeti opens with a letter delivered at midnight in Ankara, Turkey. In this letter, an elderly doctor who has begun to experience the first signs of dementia professes his love and desire for a relationship with the narrator, a woman in middle age beginning to contemplate her own mortality. From there, the novel moves between Mardin, Izmir, and Ankara; the past and the present; and the real and the imagined as the narrator seeks to know the doctor both in his prime and in his struggle to hold senility at bay. In these dreamlike landscapes, the author effortlessly introduces King Darius, the Spanish director Luis Buñuel, the actress Silvia Pinal, and the archetypal dream woman as the narrator's guides in her efforts to understand the human psyche.Nazli Eray has established herself as a master of magical realism, the perfect tool to bring to life this poignant meditation on love, aging, and the role of memory. And, as in her earlier novels, she paints vivid images of the urban landscapes of Turkey, capturing both the present and the past.

In this English-Hebrew bilingual volume by Israeli poet Orit Gidali, domestic dramas become the stage on which the region¿s political impasses play out in individual lives.

Describes a bygone way of life that has irreversibly disappeared. This title deals with various aspects of Arabian culture, including education, pilgrimages, styles of clothing, slavery, public executions, the status of women, and religion.

Morocco's Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments explores the abuse of power and its effects in this award-winning novel that opens a fascinating window into Amazigh (Berber) culture.

Explores the significance and value of Hebrew poetry written in response to the wars in which Israel was involved. This title also explores in an introductory essay the issue of whether poetry written with a defined political message and in the context of certain historical events can function adequately on the aesthetic level.

Offers a forum for studying both everyday life in Egypt and literary experimentation in the Middle East. This book both records and evoke a literary ferment in Egypt. It deals honors traditional folktales, even as it deals with contemporary problems from class and economic perspectives.

Attempts to evoke the individual's struggle for dignity and significance in the Syrian city of Aleppo during the French mandate of the forties and fifties. This book parallels the struggle of the nation for self-definition and provides insights into the civil society of Syria.

A novel by a Kurdish-Iraqi writer that gives voice to contemporary Iraqi women's experiences of political repression, violence, exile, and the yearning for peace.

An excellent example of the intense emotional quality of Behramoglu's work

Tells the true story of one woman's struggle to secure political prisoners' rights and defend herself against an unjust imprisonment.This work condemns the lack of laws to protect prisoners' basic human rights.

New stories about modern Morocco and its people by critically acclaimed author Leila Abouzeid.

Features folktales from old men sitting outside their houses in Aleppo, drinking tea.

Amina, a baker in sultan's palace, awaits her son's return from a voyage at sea, fearful that the sea has claimed Said. Said begins to make his way home witnessing British colonial oppression along the way. When Said returns and learns the island's slave population is planning a revolt against sultan's tyrannical rule, he and Amina are drawn in.

Brings to life the interlocking dramas of family ties and political conflict. Against a background of Morocco's struggle for independence from French colonial rule, this book charts the development of personal relationships, between generations as well as between husbands and wives.

Presents a translation of Turkish author Nazli Eray's "Orphee". This work is a rewriting of the myth from the perspective of Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. Set in junta-ruled Turkey of the 1980s, it resonates with references to the film "Last Tango in Paris", and evolves as a mystery story.

Masterfully bringing the sights and sounds of Iraq to life, this wise, wry tale by a prominent and prolific Iraqi novelist chronicles an affluent Iraqi family's attempt to maintain a sense of normality during the Iran-Iraq war.

The concluding volume of Ibrahim al-Koni's Oasis trilogy, begun in New Waw, Saharan Oasis and The Puppet, The Scarecrow completes a tale of greed and corruption that reveals the hollowness of tyrants.

In 2003, Lebanese writer Rashid al-Daif spent several weeks in Germany as part of the "West-East Divan" program, a cultural exchange effort meant to improve mutual awareness of German and Middle Eastern cultures. He was paired with German author Joachim Helfer, who then returned the visit to al-Daif in Lebanon. Following their time together, al-Daif published in Arabic a literary reportage of his encounter with Helfer in which he focuses on the German writer's homosexuality. His frank observations have been variously read as trenchant, naïve, or offensive. In response, Helfer provided an equally frank point-by-point riposte to al-Daif's text. Together these writers offer a rare exploration of attitudes toward sex, love, and gender across cultural lines. By stretching the limits of both fiction and essay, they highlight the importance of literary sensitivity in understanding the Other.Rashid al-Daif's "novelized biography" and Joachim Helfer's commentary appear for the first time in English translation in What Makes a Man? Sex Talk in Beirut and Berlin. Also included in this volume are essays by specialists in Arabic and German literature that shed light on the discourse around sex between these two authors from different cultural contexts.

By the award-winning author of The Puppet, this novel weaves myth and contemporary life into a tale of a desert community whose nomadic way of life is irrevocably changed by an unpredictable turn of events.

This mythic tale of greed and political corruption by award-winning novelist Ibrahim al-Koni tells a gripping, expertly crafted story of bloody betrayal and revenge inspired by gold lust and an ancient love affair.

Deals with the Lebanese civil war of the 1970s in a poetic style. This book focuses on the deranged, destabilized, and, confused state of mind created by living on the scene through a lengthy war. It is filled with details that transcend the narcissism of the main character, while giving clues to the culture of the time.

This coming-of-age story set in southwestern Iran during the nationalization of the oil industry in 1951 is the first English translation of the work of a prominent Iranian novelist who helped set the stage for today's struggle for democracy in Iran.

A personal account of a Syrian woman's youth in Damascus in the 1940s.