BULAQ | بولاق
Episodes
A Woman Shaped by Fear
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about the Syrian writer Dima Wannous' haunting novel The Frightened Ones, translated by Elisabeth Jacquette. It's a book about fear, pan...
The Shape of Cairo
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We take a look at a new book about the architecture of twentieth century Cairo, and discuss the Egyptian capital's past, present and future, and the w...
Bulaq: trailer
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
BULAQ is a podcast about contemporary writing from and about the Middle East and North Africa. We talk about books written in Aleppo, Cairo, Marrakech...
Little Magazines
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click We talk about the landscape and history of independent publishing in t...
The Not So Simple Past
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
للاستماع إلى بودكاست بعد أمس http://aj.audio/click This episode focuses on Driss Chraibi's The Simple Past (Le Pass&eacut...
The Elephant Is The Room
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We recorded this episode in Cairo with author, translator, and Mada Masr culture editor Yasmine Zohdi. We talked about making art in difficult and pre...
Writing to Remember
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is dedicated to the work of the Moroccan film-maker, novelist, artist, and poet Ahmed Bouanani – much of which has yet to...
Work-Lit Balance
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about passion projects, the value of intellectual labor, and the ups and downs of making a living (sort of) writing about books. Hosted on Aca...
Top Five
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss some of our favorite books from the past year, and some titles we're excited to get our hands on soon. Show Notes Our Wom...
The Revolution While Dreaming
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about a newly released collection of five compelling and highly quotable interviews with the great late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, titl...
Writers Are Not Magic
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the first half of the episode, we paid tribute to Jordanian poet, activist, novelist, travel writer, and editor Amjad Nasser (1955-2019), who died ...
"Insufficiently Westernized"
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss two novels set in Iraq -- one featuring a despondent policeman, and one featuring a determined grandma and her donkey. Also, how John Updik...
Disappearing Palestinians
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about two festivals (one long-established, one brand new) that celebrate Palestinian literature; an author who was penalized for supporting B...
Out of Egypt
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ursula & MLQ open the new season of BULAQ -- recorded in Amman, under the auspices of the Sowt network -- with a focus on Egypt.This episode's rea...
Trash Talk
20 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In our last episode before half our team moves and we take a summer break, we discuss a brilliant essay on the downsides of being a professional trans...
Invisibility
23 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We have novelist Ruqaya Izziddien as our guest in this episode, to discuss her debut novel The Watermelon Boys, her blog Muslim Impossible and the nee...
Our Women on the Ground
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We spend most of today’s episode talking about a forthcoming collection of essays by female journalists from the region. Guilt, anger, recklessness,...
Work-lit Balance
19 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week we talk about how MLQ’s latest passion project, the Arab Lit Quarterly, and the ups and downs of making a living (sort of) writing about b...
This Takes the Prize
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
MLQ is back from Abu Dhabi, and we talk about the recently awarded International Prize for Arabic Fiction — and an unfortunate controversy this year...
The case of Alaa al-Aswany
07 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about the career of the best-selling Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany – who like many other artists is on the outs with the country’s mili...
Not Quite On The Same Page
17 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we rave about an Omani novel – a multi-generational saga that is “anti-romantic and anti-nationalistic.” We also discuss a dark ...
Sentenced to Hope
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We spend most of this episode discussing the work and life of the Syrian playwright Sa’dallah Wannous, and how strongly it relates to repression, re...
Where Do I Start?
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What should you recommend to someone who is interested in exploring Arabic literature? We tackle this big question this week; we also talk about the a...
Bad Parents
26 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're back! And ready to talk about two poets who have moved into prose: the Egyptian Iman Mersal and the Palestinian Mazen Maarouf, who have written ...
Lists!
19 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ursula and MLQ look back at notable books from 2018 and at reads they are looking forward to catching up on over the holiday break. Show notes‘...
Writing To Remember
01 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is almost entirely dedicated to the work of the Moroccan film-maker, novelist, artist, and poet Ahmed Bouanani – much of whic...
Poems That Cross Language and Time
17 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We overcame communication blocks and interrupting children to speak to the poet Zeina Hashem Beck about how she’s given herself permission to write ...
Returns And Beginnings
04 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk about recent developments in Cairo, kids’ literature in Arabic, Naguib Mahfouz, and the launch of Marcia’s new project, th...
Interview with Ganzeer
20 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week we talk to an old Cairo friend, acclaimed Egyptian artist Ganzeer, about art, propaganda, publishing and how much damn work it is to put out...
Stolen in Translation
23 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about looking down on dialect; passing literary theft off as “salvation”; the beginning of awards season; a book that is a fragmented port...
Back To School
09 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about the relationships between education and literature; about a devastating entry in the prison memoir genre, from Syria; about the legacy o...
Is It a Beach Book?
14 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our last episode before a summer hiatus, we discuss a graphic novel about the life and art of the stars of Arab music and cinema; Egyptian writer R...
"Neo-Assyrian Trolls"
01 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We talk to humorist Karl Sharro about the origins story of his Twitter alter-ego Karl ReMarks and about finding the ideal online nemesis. Marcia takes...
Pick Your Team
16 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In which Ursula and Marcia discuss how much innocence American can claim when abroad, and the urge to write expatriate diaries in one’s twenties; th...
Alexandria When?
01 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Inspired by a fiery essay by an Egyptian professor, Ursula and MLQ discuss cosmopolitanism, nostalgia, and literary representations of the city of Ale...
Less Cute and Safe
18 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss Marcia’s recent interviews with professors teaching Arabic literature in translation; an essay by Lebanese novelist Rabih Alameddine’s ...
Cancel Everything
06 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ursula and Marcia talk about the novel Tales of Yusuf Tadros – about a Coptic Christian and aspiring artist living in the provinces -- and the ...
All Over The Map
23 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about debates surrounding Western military intervention in Syria; about Arab American writer Randa Jarrar and her Twitter ran...
Stillborn in Egypt, Fractured in Palestine
31 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We spend most of this episode talking about two books: the late Arwa Salih’s Stillborn, a memoir of and reckoning with her time as a leftist student...
Noir Is The New Black
18 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In which Marcia talks about her difficulties being interviewed; we discuss genre (sci-fi, fantasy, and especially noir) writing in Arabic; and we ques...
On Good Bad Reviews
03 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In which we discuss the validity and necessity of the negative review (or what we like to simply call critical engagement); how rare it is to find neg...
Escape Acts
17 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ursula and MLQ discuss a moving new book documenting the suffering and the resourcefulness of Yazidi women taken captive by Daesh, and the efforts to ...
Soft Power
02 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We discussed our recent readings. This includes some early foreign reporting on Morocco, which is both vivid and prejudiced; a moving account of the w...
Court Jesters and Black Mirrors
20 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss Moroccan literature about the country’s “years of lead” and its formidable and ruthless former king Hassan II; and ab...
Sacred Cows
05 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of BULAQ we highlight several new and forthcoming translations from Arabic to English. We also discuss the newly translated Concerto A...
No Happy Endings
23 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we look back at 2017 about talk books published in the past year: notable books, favorite books, books we felt were overlooked, books...
Palestinian literature: regrets, tough choices and teen adventures
08 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump just recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a move that acknowledges only a single Israeli narrative. We discuss Palestinia...
Know Your Audience
24 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In which we discuss the fictional underworlds of Rabee Jaber and other Lebanese novelists; and explore Saudi poetry, from a new translation of a famou...
Belonging to Oneself
08 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of a crackdown on gay men in Egypt, we discuss Mohammed Abdel Nabi’s novel about being gay in Cairo, In The Spider’s Room. Also:...