Hoopoe 2017-18 by I.B.Tauris

Stories from the Middle East

Fiction | 2017â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2018

Founded in 1960, the American University in Cairo Press has been the leading publisher of Arabic fiction in English translation for many years. Our authors are world renowned and include Naguib Mahfouz, the only writer of Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Mahfouz was followed to the Press by uniquely talented writers who received wide critical acclaim in English translation—Ibrahim al-Koni, Sahar Khalifeh, Alaa Al Aswany, Betool Khedairi, Bahaa Taher, Hala El Badry, Gamal al-Ghitani, Miral al-Tahawy, Ibrahim Nasrallah, and Yusuf Idris among them. The AUC Press proudly launched Hoopoe in Spring 2016.

Stories from the Middle East For Hoopoe’s second year, we are excited to offer our readers eight fascinating new novels set in Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Oman. Maan Abu Taleb’s debut novel All the Battles, Donia Kamal’s Cigarette Number Seven, and Adel Esmat’s Tales of Yusuf Tadrus all deal with the struggles of Egyptians: in the boxing ring, in the throes of revolution, and in the world of artists. Abdelilah Hamdouchi offers the first in a new detective series set in Casablanca, Bled Dry. A young exile returns to wartime Syria in Rana Haddad’s The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor. The hopes and disappointments of life in Palestine are movingly depicted in Rabai al-Madhoun’s Fractured Destinies and in Ibrahim Nasrallah’s latest work, Gaza Weddings, and an Irishman embarks on a possibly supernatural love affair in Of Sea and Sand, by Denyse Woods. We recommend this curated selection of books to provide you with a glimpse of contemporary fiction in the Middle East. Enjoy.

All the Battles Maan Abu Taleb

A powerful novel of struggle and transformation in the rough world of boxing

When he first showed up at Captain Ali’s run-down boxing club, Saed was mocked for his bourgeois manners, then humiliated in the ring. After barely a year of training, he has been consumed by the world of boxing and tipped for greatness. As his star rises, Saed is faced with the challenger he came for, but at what cost?

$17.95 • £10.99 256pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 847 5 Sept 2017 (US), Oct 2017 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction, Sports, Urban, Contemporary

Maan Abu Taleb’s debut novel is one of heady victories and crushing defeats. Driven by direct, lean prose, All the Battles is a compelling story of class, identity, and personal transformation.

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Thriller / Suspense

Sales points: • Popular genre of sports literature, the first of its kind to come out of the Arab world • Debut novel of a rising star, novel well received in Arabic • Accessible, stylish writing ISBN: World 978-977-416-847-5 Rights: ex. Arabic

9 789774 168475

Maan Abu Taleb is the founding editor of Ma3azef, the Arab world’s leading online music magazine, and he holds a master’s degree in philosophy and contemporary critical theory. Born and raised in Amman, Jordan, he now lives in London, UK.

Praise for All the Battles “This novel is the sort that grabs the reader by the collar, letting go only after its finish . . . a work of high-energy artistic expression.”—Hisham Bustani, author of The Perception of Meaning

Robin Moger is the translator of Otared by Mohammad Rabie and Women of Karantina by Nael Eltoukhy, among other books. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bled Dry

The first book in the Detective Hanash crime series

Abdelilah Hamdouchi When an ill-fated young prostitute and her lover are killed in a gruesome double murder, seasoned investigator Detective Hanash is called in. The case draws him and his team into the poverty of Casablanca’s slums, blighted by criminality, religious extremism, and despair. Hanash’s years on the job have made him intimately familiar with the city’s seedy underbelly, but this time he harbors a personal connection to one of the victims, one he must conceal at all costs.

$17.95 • £10.99 248pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 848 2 Sept 2017 (US), Oct 2017 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction, Noir, Crime, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Literature & Literary Studies, Crime & Mystery

Sales points: • First book in new detective series • Author a successful crime writer • Topical: tackles religious extremism and radicalization Rights: World ex. Arabic ISBN: 978-977-416-848-2

9 789774 168482

Born in Meknès, Morocco, in 1958, Abdelilah Hamdouchi is one of the first writers of police fiction in Arabic and a prolific, award-winning screenwriter of police thrillers, including Whitefly and The Final Bet. He lives in Rabat, Morocco.

Praise for Whitefly by Abdelilah Hamdouchi

Benjamin Smith holds a PhD from Harvard University, and is currently a visiting assistant professor of Arabic at Swarthmore College in the United States.

“The plotting is tight and watching the story’s resolution unfold is a delight . . . . As a guilty-pleasure read, it is a winner.”—The National

“Hamdouchi is an artful storyteller unafraid of loose ends, and will lift the ground from beneath you just when it feels most solid.”—Tank Magazine

“A refreshing and refined crime thriller. . . . Events unfold cleanly, with a sniper’s precision.”—Banipal

Cigarette Number Seven Donia Kamal As a child, Nadia was left her with her grandparents in Egypt, while her mother sought work in the Gulf. Decades later, she looks back on her fragmented childhood from an uncertain present: it is 2011 and the streets have erupted in an unexpected revolution. Her activist father, the sole anchor in her life, encourages her to be a part of the protests and so Nadia joins the sit-in at Tahrir Square. Donia Kamal’s succinct, candid prose draw us into Nadia’s world: from the private to the public; from the men she has loved and lost, to her participation in the momentous events of the Egyptian revolution. Stunning in its simplicity, Cigarette Number Seven is a deeply intimate novel about family and relationships in turbulent times. Winner of Sawiris Emerging Authors Prize.

A young woman’s story of family, love, and revolution in modern Cairo $17.95 • £9.99 224pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 850 5 Jan 2018 (US), Feb 2018 (ROW) BISAC: Literary; Contemporary Women; Political; Romance; Urban BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Literature & Literary Studies

Sales points: • A story from the front line of Egypt’s revolution • Confessional, intimate writing style • Promotable author Rights: World ex. Arabic ISBN: 978-977-416-850-5

9 789774 168505

Donia Kamal is an Egyptian novelist and producer. Cigarette Number Seven is her second novel, and she has also produced more than fifty documentary films and numerous television shows for various Arab networks. She currently lives between Egypt and the UAE. Nariman Youssef is an Egyptian translator and researcher working primarily in Arabic and English. She currently lives in London, where she is partly based at the British Library.

Gaza Weddings Ibrahim Nasrallah Twin sisters Randa and Lamis live in the besieged Gaza Strip. Inseparable to the point that even their mother cannot tell them apart, they grow up surrounded by the random carnage that characterizes life under occupation. Randa, who wants to be a journalist, writes to record the devastation around her, taking pictures of martyred children. Meanwhile, their beloved neighbor Amna quietly converses with all those she has lost, as she plans the wedding of Lamis and her son Saleh.

From the author of Time of White Horses and The Lanterns of the King of Galilee $14.95 • £8.99 160pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 844 4 Oct 2017 (US), Nov 2017 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction: Literary, Family Saga, War, Contemporary Women BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Literature & Literary Studies

Sales points:

With their menfolk almost entirely absent, it is the women who take center stage in this poignant novel of resilience, determination, and living against the odds.

• Critically claimed author with international profile • Set in Gaza under the siege: a subject of perpetual interest • Intimate portrayal of the lives of women ISBN:World 978-977-416-844-4 Rights: English

9 789774 168444

Ibrahim Nasrallah is considered one of the most influential voices of his generation. Raised in a refugee camp by Palestinian parents, he became a journalist before turning to creative writing. His work includes fourteen novels. He lives in Amman, Jordan. An award-winning translator of Naguib Mahfouz, Ghada Samman, and Mohamed El-Bisatie, Nancy Roberts also lives in Amman, Jordan.

Praise for Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah “A vivid portrait. . . . Roberts’s translation is excellent.”—Times Literary Supplement “Written in a shimmering and sensitive style, it has a captivating grip on the reader, a lasting effect on his/her sensibility and memory. This is the greatest creative portrayal which explains, through fine art, the tragedy of the Palestinian people and the causes of their disaster.”—Salma Khadra Jayyusi “Nasrallah’s intensely eloquent voice gives Western audiences an insight into the lives of the marginalized without rattling off numbers.”—New Statesman

Fractured Destinies Rabai al-Madhoun

Broad in scope and sweeping in its history, a powerful novel of the Palestinian experience

Palestinian–Armenian Ivana eloped with a British doctor in the 1940s, in the midst of the Nakba, and emigrated to England. Over half a century later, her daughter Julie has been tasked with her dying wish: to take her ashes back to their old home in Acre. With her husband Walid, they leave London and embark on a journey back to their country of birth, one that will lay bare the tragedy of everyday Palestinian life.

$18.95 • £11.99 264pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 862 8 April 2018 (US), May 2018 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction: Literary; Political; Saga; Palestine BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction

Written in four parts, each as a concerto movement, Rabai al-Madhoun’s pioneering new novel explores Palestinian exile and displacement, in all its complex forms.

Sales points: • Winner of “Arabic Booker” • Sequel to bestselling The Lady from Tel Aviv

Winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2016

• Bold tale of Palestine, both modern and historical Rights: World ex. Arabic ISBN: 978-977-416-862-8

9 789774 168628

Rabai al-Madhoun is a Palestinian writer and journalist, born in al-Majdal in southern Palestine in 1945. He is the author of the acclaimed The Lady from Tel Aviv and has worked for numerous Arabic newspapers and magazines. He currently lives in London in the UK.

Praise for Fractured Destinies “[Fractured Destinies] invents a new fictional form . . . [and] can be considered the complete Palestinian novel.”—Amina Thiban, chair of the panel of judges for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2016

Paul Starkey is Professor Emeritus at Durham University, and won the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation in 2015. He has translated Edwar al-Kharrat, Youssef Rakha, and Mansoura Ez-Eldin, and lives in the UK. 10

Tales of Yusuf Tadrus Adel Esmat

A portrait of an artist trying to navigate the obstacles of family, class, and religion in Egypt’s Nile Delta

Yusuf Tadrus was born in the 1960s into a working-class Coptic family in the provincial Egyptian town of Tanta. From a young age, he was fascinated by light and shadow and spent his time drawing, making toys out of detritus he found in the alley, and dreaming of becoming an artist and stepping into a broader world. As he grows into adulthood, he hones his talent, but his ambitions are checked: by the responsibilities of family, marriage, and work, by his own lack of self-confidence, ambivalence, and at times recklessness, and by society’s expectations and prejudices.

$17.95 • £10.99 216pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 860 4 Apr 2018 (US), May 2018 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction: Literary; Religious; Middle East; Art BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Political / Legal Thriller, Fiction in Translation

Sales points: • Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal

Adel Esmat provides an intimate glimpse into Egyptian Christian life and, with sensitivity and honesty, tells of the struggles faced by an artist who seeks to remain true to his calling.

• Rare look inside Egypt’s Christian community • Addresses important social issues Rights: World ex. Arabic

Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature 2016 ISBN: 978-977-416-860-4

9 789774 168604

Born in the Gharbiya Governorate of Egypt in 1959, Adel Esmat graduated in philosophy from the Faculty of Arts of Cairo’s Ain Shams University. He lives in Tanta, in the Nile Delta, and works in the Egyptian Ministry of Education.

Praise for Tales of Yusuf Tadrus: “This is a serious work of fiction. Multi-thematic but with clear authorial control and a developing storyline.”—Rasheed El-Enany, Exeter University

Mandy McClure is the translator of Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide and co-translator of The Traditional Crafts of Egypt. She lives in Cairo.

The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor Rana Haddad Aspiring photographer Dunya Noor discovers early on that her curious spirit, rebellious nature, and very curly hair are a recipe for disaster in 1990s Syria. And at the tender age of thirteen, she is exiled to live with her grandparents in England.

A wonderfully rich and witty debut novel, a tribute to love, youth, and Syria $18.95 • £11.99 240pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 861 1 Mar 2018 (US), Apr 2018 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction: Literary, Satire, Humorous,

Romance, Contemporary

Many years later in London, she meets Hilal, the son of a humble tailor from Aleppo and no match for Dunya, daughter of the great heart surgeon Joseph Noor. But dreamy, restless Dunya falls in love with Hilal and they decide to return to Syria together, embarking on a journey that will change them both forever.

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction

Rana Haddad’s satirical debut novel captures the essence of life under the Assad dictatorship, in all its rigid absurdity. With humor and an unexpected playfulness, this is a story of love and light against the forces of conservativism and oppression.

• Vivid, witty writing

in Translation

Sales points: • Debut novel of talented new writer • Love story set in Syria – reaches behind international headlines

Rights: English ISBN: 978-977-416-861-1

9 789774 168611

Rana Haddad grew up in Lattakia, Syria, moved to the UK as a teenager, and read English Literature at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. She has worked as a journalist for the BBC, C4, CNN, and Al Jazeera, and has also published poetry. She lives in London.

Of Sea and Sand Denyse Woods Gabriel Sherlock arrives in Oman in 1982, fleeing shame and disaster back home in Ireland, and begins an intense affair with a woman whom no one else has seen. Locals insist she must be one of the jinn—a supernatural being—but Gabriel refuses to buy into the folklore, despite her sudden, unexplained disappearance. Twenty-five years later, Irishwoman Thea Pearson lands in Muscat, chasing her own ghosts from the past, and is approached by Gabriel who believes she is his lost lover. Certain that they have never met before, Thea is nonetheless drawn to this deluded, and perhaps dangerous, stranger and the rumors that surround him. Of Sea and Sand teeters on the edge of a spirit world just beyond our grasp in this haunting, seductive mystery. Winner of the Florida Keys Flash Fiction Contest.

A thrilling mystery that brings together the supernatural, a passionate love affair, and a family tragedy $18.95 • £12.99 304pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 803 1 Mar 2018 (US), Apr 2018 (ROW) BISAC: Fiction: Mystery; Romance; Supernatural; Suspense; Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology BIC: Crime & Mystery, Thriller / Suspense, Romance, Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation

Sales points: • Established author active in promotion • Straddles east and west: set between Ireland, Iraq, and Oman • Gripping mystery novel ISBN:World 978-977-416-803-1 Rights: English

9 789774 168031

Denyse Woods, who sometimes writes as Denyse Devlin, is an Irish novelist, based in Cork. Born in Boston in 1958 and raised all over the world, she is the author of five novels, including the critically-acclaimed Overnight to Innsbruck and the bestselling The Catalpa Tree.

The Baghdad Eucharist

Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge

Sinan Antoon

Ezzedine C. Fishere

Displaced by the sectarian violence in the city, Maha and her husband are taken in by a distant cousin, Youssef.

On the eve of Salma’s twenty-first birthday, scattered friends and family converge on New York for a celebration organized by Darwish, her obstinate grandfather. Each guest’s journey to this fated gathering takes on an unexpected significance, as they find themselves revisiting the choices they have made in life, and rethinking their relationships with one another and with the country in which they live.

As the growing turmoil around them seeps into their household, a rare argument breaks out between the elderly Youssef and his young guest. Born into sanctions and war, Maha knows nothing of Iraq’s good years that Youssef holds dear. Set over a single day, The Baghdad Eucharist is an intimate story of love, memory, and anguish in one Christian family. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Traveling seamlessly between Egypt and the United States, Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge is a story about how we construct and shift our identities, and about a family’s search for home. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

$14.95 • £9.99 • 136pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 820 8 April 2017 (US), May 2017 (ROW)

$14.95 • £9.99 • 168pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 819 2 April 2017 (US), May 2017 (ROW)

BISAC: Fiction / Political; Fiction / Literary; Fiction /

BISAC: Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Psychological;

Religious

Fiction / General

BIC: Modern & Contemporary fiction, Fiction in

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction,

Translation, Religious & Spiritual Fiction, Political /

Fiction in Translation

Legal Thriller

Sales points:

• Shortlisted for the “Arabic Booker”

• Acclaimed Egyptian author, US-based with international profile

• Acclaimed, prize-winning Arab-American author

• Intimate look at Arab-American life

• Highly topical, set within sectarian conflict of modern Iraq ISBN: 978-977-416-820-8

ISBN: 978-977-416-819-2

Rights: World ex. Arabic

Rights: World English

9 789774 168192

9 789774 168208

Sinan Antoon is an award-winning poet, novelist, and translator. He was born in Iraq, and moved to America in 1991 after the Gulf War. He received his PhD from Harvard University and is currently associate professor of Arabic literature at New York University. He is a co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya.

Ezzedine C. Fishere is an acclaimed Egyptian writer, academic, and diplomat. He has written numerous successful and best-selling novels and he also writes political articles for Arabic, English, and French news outlets. He currently teaches at Dartmouth College in the US.

Translated by Maia Tabet

Translated by John Peate 19

No Road to Paradise

The Book of Safety

Hassan Daoud

Yasser Abdel Hafez

In a small Lebanese village a disillusioned and dying imam must face his demons. Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, he lusts after another, and the life of a man of religion, followed to please his family, has brought him no joy.

Khaled transcribes testimonies at the Palace of Confessions, a shadowy state-run agency situated in a respectable Cairo suburb. There he encounters Mustafa Ismail: a university professor turned master thief, who breaks into the homes of the great and the good and then blackmails them into silence.

Meticulous, sparse prose quietly evokes the essence of rural life and the burden of tradition, plumbing the depths of a man’s struggle with religion and his place in the world. Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature 2015

Mustafa has dedicated his existence to the perfection of his trade and authored The Book of Safety, the ultimate guide to successful thievery. With cool and incisive prose, Yasser Abdel Hafez follows Khaled into obsession with this mysterious book and its author.

$17.95 • £11.99 • 304pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 817 8 April 2017 (US), May 2017 (ROW)

$16.95 • £9.99 • 288pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 821 5 March 2017 (US), April 2017 (ROW)

BISAC: Fiction / Religious; Fiction / Psychological;

BISAC: Fiction / Literary; Fiction/ Mystery &

Fiction / Literary

Detective / Fiction Psychological

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction,

Translation, Religious & Spiritual Fiction

Fiction in Translation, Crime & Mystery

Sales points:

• Winner of Naguib Mahfouz Medal

• Unusual story of modern Cairo

• Noted author, been translated into several

• Universal themes, will travel well

languages

• Up and coming Egyptian author

• Insightful exploration of religious society

Rights: World ex. Arabic

ISBN: 978-977-416-821-5

ISBN: 978-977-416-817-8

Rights: World ex. Arabic

9 789774 168178

9 789774 168215

Hassan Daoud, born in Beirut in 1950, has taught creative writing at the Lebanese American University. He is the author of three short story collections, and ten novels.

Yasser Abdel Hafez is a journalist and novelist, and is an editor at the literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab. His first novel On the Occasion of Life was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. He lives in Cairo.

Translated by Marilyn Booth

Translated by Robin Moger 21

Menorahs and Minarets

The Longing of the Dervish

Kamal Ruhayyim

Hammour Ziada

After ten years in Paris, Galal returns to Cairo, where he finds a society in transformation. Egypt is Galal’s home, but he feels he no longer belongs there. He is caught between his two identities: his Jewish mother’s family are cosmopolitan business people, while his father’s family are rural farmers from the Delta. Kamal Ruhayyim paints an uncompromising portrait of an older generation dictating how their children live and love. Menorahs and Minarets is the concluding part of Ruhayyim’s compelling trilogy.

With the fall of the Mahdist state in Sudan at the end of the nineteenth century, freed slave Bakhit is released from prison. All that has sustained him through these years is the memory of his beloved Theodora—and his vow to avenge her killing.

A rare story of Egypt’s disappeared Jewish community

Set against a backdrop of war, religious fervor, and the monumental social and political upheavals of the time, The Longing of the Dervish is a love story in the most unlikely of circumstances. Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature 2014 Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

$16.95 • £9.99 • 264pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 831 4 • March 2017 (US), April 2017 (ROW)

$17.95 • £9.99 • 304pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 788 1 • September 2016

BISAC: Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Psychological;

Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary

Fiction / Religious

BIC: Modern and Contemporary Fiction;

BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in

Fiction in Translation; Historical Romance

BISAC: Fiction / Romance / Historical;

Translation, Religious & Spiritual Fiction

Sales points:

• Bestseller in Arabic and winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal

• Part of trilogy about Cairo’s Jewish community

• Set in a key period in Middle Eastern/

• Important, little-addressed subject

British colonial history

• Accessibly written

• Addresses issues that will resonate

Rights: World ex. Arabic

today: race, slavery, religious extremism

ISBN: 978-977-416-831-4

ISBN: 978-977-416-788-1

Rights: World ex. Arabic

9 789774 168314

Kamal Ruhayyim, born in Egypt in 1947, is the author of a collection of short stories and five novels, including Diary of a Jewish Muslim and Days in the Diaspora. Translated by Sarah Enany 22

9 789774 167881

Hammour Ziada was born in Umm Durman, Sudan, in 1977. He has worked as a civil society and human rights researcher, and is currently a journalist based in Cairo. He is the author of two novels and two collections of short stories. Translated by Jonathan Wright 23

No Knives in the Kitchens of This City

Otared

Khaled Khalifa

Mohammad Rabie

In the once beautiful city of Aleppo, one Syrian family descends into tragedy and ruin.

2025: fourteen years after the failed revolution, Egypt is invaded once more. As traumatized Egyptians eke out a feral existence in Cairo’s dusty downtown, former cop Ahmed Otared joins a group of fellow officers seeking Egypt’s liberation through the barrel of a gun.

Irrepressible Sawsan flirts with militias, the ruling party, and finally religion, seeking but never finding salvation. She and her siblings and mother are slowly choked by a brutal regime. Set between the 1960s and 2000s, No Knives in the Kitchens of This City speaks of the persecution of a whole society. Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature 2013 Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

As Cairo becomes a foul cauldron of drugs, sex, and senseless violence, Otared finally understands his country’s fate. In this unflinching and grisly novel, Mohammad Rabie envisages a grim future for Egypt, where death is the only certainty. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

$16.95 • £9.99 • 244pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 781 2 • October 2016

$17.95 • £9.99 • 352pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 784 3 • September 2016 BISAC: Fiction / Suspense; Fiction /

BISAC: Fiction / Political; Fiction /

Mystery and Detective;

Historical; Fiction / Literary

Fiction / Horror

BIC: Fiction Modern & Contemporary,

Fiction in Translation, Political / Legal Thriller

Fiction in Translation, Crime & Mystery, Thriller / Suspense, Science Fiction

Sales points: • Acclaimed author

Sales points:

• Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz

• Shortlisted for the “Arabic Booker”

Medal, shortlisted for the “Arabic Booker”

• Sleek, accessible writing

• Very topical: about Syria and life under Assad

• Contemporary dystopian theme with 978-977-416-784-3 wide commercial ISBN:

ISBN: 978-977-416-781-2

Rights: World English

Rights: World ex. Arabic, Swedish, Finnish

9 789774 167812

appeal

9 789774 167843

Khaled Khalifa was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1964. A founding editor of the literary magazine Alif, he is the author of four novels, including In Praise of Hatred, as well as television scripts and screenplays. He lives in Damascus, Syria.

Born in 1978, Mohammad Rabie is the author of three acclaimed novels. His first novel, Amber’s Planet, won first prize in the Emerging Writers category of the Sawiris Cultural Award in 2012. He lives in Cairo, Egypt.

Translated by Leri Price

Translated by Robin Moger 25

A Beautiful White Cat Walks with Me

A Rare Blue Bird Flies with Me

Youssef Fadel

Hassan makes a living in his native Marrakesh as a comic writer and performer, satirizing Morocco’s rulers. Yet when he is suddenly conscripted into a losing war in the Sahara, and sent to a far-flung desert outpost, it seems that all is lost.

Spring, 1990. After years of searching in vain, a stranger passes a scrap of paper to Zina. It’s from Aziz: the man who vanished the day after their wedding almost two decades ago. It propels Zina on a final quest for a secret desert jail in southern Morocco, where her husband crouches in despair, dreaming of his former life.

Could his estranged father, close to power as the king’s private jester, be behind it all? And will he ever see his beloved wife Zinab again? With flowing prose and black humor, Youssef Fadel subtly tells the story of 1980s Morocco. A modern Moroccan tale of power, love, and loss

Youssef Fadel pays powerful testament to a terrible period in Morocco’s history, known as ‘the Years of Cinders and Lead,’ and masterfully evokes the suffering inflicted on those who supported the failed coup against King Hassan II in 1972. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

$17.95 • £10.99 • 232pp • Paperback Original • 978 977 416 776 8 • October 2016

$16.95 • £8.99 • 248pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 754 6 • April 2016

BISAC: Fiction / Political; Fiction /

BISAC: Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Political; Fiction /

Historical; Fiction / Literary

Romance / Historical / C20th

BIC: Fiction Modern & Contemporary,

Fiction in Translation, Political / Legal Thriller

Fiction in Translation

Sales points:

• Part of author’s modern Morocco series

• Shortlisted for the “Arabic Booker”

• Concerns a pivotal period in Moroccan history

• Part of author’s modern Morocco series

• Well-respected, prize-winning author

• Well respected, prize-winning author actively engaged in promotion

Rights: World English, ex. Arabic, French

Rights: World ex. Arabic

ISBN: 978-977-416-776-8

ISBN: 978-977-416-754-6

9 789774 167768

9 789774 167546 >

Award-winning novelist and screenwriter Youssef Fadel was born in Casablanca in 1949. He has written over ten novels.

Translated by Alexander E. Elinson

Translated by Jonathan Smolin 27

The Televangelist

Whitefly

Ibrahim Essa

Abdelilah Hamdouchi

Meet Egypt’s top TV preacher Hatem el-Shenawi:a national celebrity revered by housewives and politicians alike for delivering Islam to the masses. Charismatic and quick-witted, he has friends in high places.

When a fourth corpse in three days washes up in Tangier with a bullet in the chest, Detective Laafrit knows this isn’t just another illegal immigrant who didn’t make it to the Spanish coast.

But when he is entrusted with a secret that threatens to wreak havocacross the country,h e is drawnintoa web of political intrigueatthe very heart of government. Can Hatem’s fameandf ortune savehimfromthis unspeakable scandal?

The traffickers. The drug dealers. The smugglers. They know what it takes to get a gun into Morocco, and so does Laafrit. As his team hunts for the gun, Laafrit follows a hunch and reveals an international conspiracy to unlock the case. Whitefly is a fast-paced crime thriller from the Arab west.

Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction $16.95 • £10.99 • 488pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 718 8 • March 2016

$14.95 • £7.99 • 144pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 751 5 • March 2016

BISAC: Fiction / Thrillers / Political;

BISAC: Fiction / Crime; Fiction / Mystery & Detec-

Fiction / Literary

tive / Police Procedural; Fiction /

BIC: Fiction in Translation,

Thrillers / Political

Thriller / Suspense

BIC: Crime & Mystery, Fiction in Translation

Sales points:

• Bestseller in Arabic

• Successful Moroccan crime writer

• Shortlisted for the “Arabic Booker”

• Accessible style with broad commerical appeal

• Critiques organized religion

• Contemporary, topical backdrop of illegal immigration to Europe

Rights: World

Rights: World ex. Arabic, French, Macedonian ISBN: 978-977-416-751-5

ISBN: 978-977-416-718-8

9 789774 167515 >

9 789774 167188 >

Bestselling Egyptian author Ibrahim Essa is a renowned journalist, TV personality, and political commentator. He lives in Cairo, Egypt. Translated by Jonathan Wright 28

Born in Meknès, Morocco in 1958, Abdelilah Hamdouchi is one of the first writers of police fiction in Arabic and a prolific, award-winning screenwriter of police thrillers. Translated by Jonathan Smolin 29

The Open Door

Time of White Horses

Latifa al-Zayyat

Ibrahim Nasrallah

ISBN: 978-977-416-827-7

$17.95 • £9.99 • 392pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 827 7 • March 2017 (US), April 2017 (ROW)

$18.95 • £10.99 • 664pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 757 7 • April 2016

BISAC: Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Political BIC: Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Political / Legal Thriller, Historical Fiction

BISAC: Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Sagas BIC: Fiction in Translation, Sagas

Sales points: • Landmark Arabic novel—pioneering feminist, anti-colonialist work • Set in key historical period: end of British rule in Egypt • Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal

Sales points: • Shortlisted for the “Arab Booker” • A work of noted political importance for the Israeli Occupation of Palestine • World-renowned author and critically acclaimed novel ISBN: 978-977-416-757-7

Rights: World English

Rights: World ex. Arabic

9 789774 168277

Latifa al-Zayyat (1923–96) struggled all her life to uphold just causes of national integrity, social justice, and human rights. She was a professor of English literature at Ain Shams University, Cairo, and The Open Door is recognized as her magnum opus.

9 789774 167577 >

Translated by Marilyn Booth

Translated by Nancy Roberts

The Time-Travels of the Man Who Sold Pickles and Sweets

The Final Bet

Khairy Shalaby

Abdelilah Hamdouchi

ISBN: 978-977-416-792-8

9 789774 167928

$18.95 • £10.99 • 336pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 792 8 • October 2016

$14.95 • £8.99 • 144pp • Paperback Original 978 977 416 779 9 • September 2016

BISAC: Fiction / Historical; Fiction / Science Fiction; Fiction / Literary BIC: Fiction Modern & Contemporary, Fiction in Translation, Historical fiction, Science fiction

BISAC: Fiction / Mystery & Detective; Fiction / Thriller; Fiction / Literary BIC: Fiction Modern & Contemporary, Fiction in Translation, Thriller / Suspense, Crime & Mystery

Sales points: • Acclaimed, prize-winning Egyptian author • Quirky, yet accessible • Unconventional look at modern and historic Egypt

ISBN: 978-977-416-779-9

Sales points: • The first Arabic detective novel to be translated into English • Accessibly written, broad commercial appeal • Popular, salable crime genre

Rights: World ex. Swedish

Rights: World ex. Arabic

Khairy Shalaby (1938–2011) was born in Egypt’s Nile Delta. He wrote numerous novels, short stories, historical tales, and critical studies. He won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2003.

Born in Meknès, Morocco in 1958, Abdelilah Hamdouchi is one of the first writers of police fiction in Arabic and a prolific, awardwinning screenwriter of police thrillers. He lives in Rabat, Morocco.

Translated by Michael Cooperson

9 789774 167799

Translated by Jonathan Smolin

Hoopoe Titles All the Battles Maan Abu Taleb

No Road to Paradise Hassan Daoud

The Baghdad Eucharist Sinan Antoon

Of Sea and Sand Denyse Woods

A Beautiful White Cat Walks with Me Youssef Fadel

The Open Door Latifa al-Zayyat

Bled Dry Abdelilah Hamdouchi The Book of Safety Yasser Abdel Hafez Cigarette Number Seven Donia Kamal Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge Ezzedine C. Fishere The Final Bet Abdelilah Hamdouchi Fractured Destinies Rabai al-Madhoun Gaza Weddings Ibrahim Nasrallah The Longing of the Dervish Hammour Ziada Menorahs and Minarets Kamal Ruhayyim No Knives in the Kitchens of This City Khaled Khalifa 32

Otared Mohammad Rabie A Rare Blue Bird Flies with Me Youssef Fadel Tales of Yusuf Tadrus Adel Esmat The Televangelist Ibrahim Essa Time of White Horses Ibrahim Nasrallah The Time-Travels of the Man Who Sold Pickles and Sweets Khairy Shalaby The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor Rana Haddad Whitefly Abdelilah Hamdouchi

Hoopoe is an imprint of the American University in Cairo Press SALES North America, Oxford University Press T: 800-445-9714 | F: 919-677-1303 E: custserv.us@oup.com UK & ROW, I.B.Tauris T: +44 (0) 20 7243 1225 F: +44 (0) 20 7243 1226 Paul Davighi: pdavighi@ibtauris.com Egypt, AUC Press Angela Hafez: angelah@aucegypt.edu Trevor Naylor: trevornaylor@aucegypt.edu MARKETING & PUBLICITY US & Canada, AUC Press T: 212-730-8800 ext. 4546 | F: 212-730-1600 Tarek El-Elaimy: telaimy@aucegypt.edu UK, I.B.Tauris Bianca Schmauch: bschmauch@ibtauris.com Egypt & ROW, AUC Press Basma El Manialawi: basma.manialawi@aucegypt.edu EDITORIAL Nadine El-Hadi: nadine.elhadi@aucegypt.edu RIGHTS Basma El Manialawi: basma.manialawi@aucegypt.edu

hoopoe is an imprint for engaged, open-minded readers hungry for outstanding fiction that challenges headlines, re-imagines histories, and celebrates original storytelling. Through elegant paperback and digital editions, hoopoe champions bold, contemporary writers from across the Middle East alongside some of the finest, groundbreaking authors of earlier generations. At hoopoefiction.com, curious and adventurous readers from around the world will find new writing, interviews, and criticism from our authors, translators, and editors.

ISBN: 978-1-78831-312-4

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