''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1998 by Margaret Obank and

Samuel Shimon Samuel Shimon (born 1956 in Al-Habbaniyah, Iraq) is an Iraqi writer and journalist of Assyrian descent. He left Iraq in 1979 with dreams of becoming a director in Hollywood, and has since then lived in Damascus, Amman, Beirut, Nicosia, Aden, Cairo, ...

.Banipal magazine profile
/ref> The magazine is published three times a year. Since its inception, it has published works and interviews of numerous Arab authors and poets, many of them translated for the first time into English. It is also co-sponsor of the Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation. As of December 2020, 69 issues of ''Banipal'' were published. Each issue usually focuses on a specific theme, recent issues focusing on

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

fiction,

Arab American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American In ...

authors, Iraqi authors, Literature in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

Today, Writing in Dutch, etc. The magazine has been praised both by non-Arab and Arab commentators - Gamal el-Ghitani, James Kirkup, Anton Shammas among others - for its role in diffusing Arab literature to a wider audience. The Iraqi poet, novelist and translator Fadhil Al Azzawi has said:

Contemporary authors featured in ''Banipal''

* Abbas Beydhoun * Abdel Aziz al-Maqalih * Abdellatif Laâbi *

Abdelrahman Munif Abdelrahman bin Ibrahim al-Munif ( ar, عَبْدُ الرَّحْمٰن المُنِيفٌ) known by his nickname Abdelrahman Munif (May 29, 1933 – January 24, 2004) was a Saudi Arabian novelist, short story writer, memoirist, journalist ...

Abdelwahab Meddeb Abdelwahab Meddeb ( aeb, عبد الوهاب المدب; 1946 – 5 November 2014) was a French-language writer and cultural critic, and a professor of comparative literature at the University of Paris X-Nanterre. Biography and career Meddeb wa ...

* Abdullah Laroui *

Abdul Kader el-Janabi Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, me ...

Abdu Khal Abdo Khal (born 3, August 1962, Al-Mijannah, Jizan, Saudi Arabia) is an Arab writer and winner of the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Biography He left his home village at a young age and currently lives in Jeddah. Before becomin ...

Abdul Wahab al-Bayati Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati (December 19, 1926 – August 3, 1999) was an Iraqi Arab poet. He was a pioneer in his field and defied conventional forms of poetry that had been common for centuries. Biography He was born in Baghdad, near the shrine o ...

* Adunis *

Ahmad Ali El Zein Ahmad Ali El Zein (born 1956) is a Lebanese novelist, documentary film maker and television journalist. He is best known for his trilogy of novels, ''The Edge of Oblivion'' (2007), ''Suhbat al-Tayer'' (2010) and ''Barid al-Ghouroub'' (2014). He l ...

* Ahmad Zein * Ahmed Fagih * Ahmed Bouzfour *

Ahmed Rashid Thani Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

* Ala Hlehel * Alawiyya Subh *

Albert Cossery Albert Cossery (3 November 1913 – 22 June 2008) was an Egyptian-born French writer. Although Cossery lived most of his life in Paris and only wrote in the French language, all of his novels were either set in his country of birth, Egypt, or i ...

Ali al-Domaini ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

* Ali al-Kasimi * Ali al-Muqri * Ali Mohammed Zayd *

Amjad Nasser Amjad Nasser ( ar, أمجد ناصر), known with the pseudonym of Yahya Numeiri al-Naimat ( ar, يحيى النميري النعيمات), (1955 – 31 October 2019) was a London-based Jordanian writer, journalist and poet and one of the pionee ...

* Anton Shammas * Aroussia Naluti *

Aziz Chouaki Aziz Chouaki (Arabic: عزيز شواكي) was born in 1951 in Tizi Rached, Algeria. He died in France, 2019. He was a writer and playwright known for his somewhat daring political and literary views. His literary works include the novel ''Baya- ...

* Badr Shakir al-Sayyab * Baha Eddine Taoud *

Bassam Frangieh Bassam Frangieh (Arabic: بسام فرنجيه) is a scholar of contemporary Arabic literature and culture. He is best known for his pedagogical innovations in the study of the Arabic language, as well as his translations of modern Arabic poets ...

Bassam Shamseldin Bassam is an Arabic name and a given name roughly meaning "one who smiles". More accurately, it is the Arabic name "Basem" (often incorrectly written in English as Bassem) that translates to "one who smiles". Basem is the agent noun of the Arabic ve ...

Bensalim Himmich Bensalem Himmich () (born in 1948 in Meknes) is a Moroccan novelist, poet and philosopher with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Paris, who teaches at the Mohammed V University, Rabat. He served as Minister of Culture from 29 July 2009 t ...

* Denys Johnson-Davies * Diya al-Jubaily * Driss Chraïbi *

Edward al-Kharrat Edwar al-Kharrat ( ar, إدوار الخراط‎; 16 March 1926 – 1 December 2015) was an Egyptian novelist, writer and critic. Early life He was born in Alexandria to a Coptic Christian family. He studied law at Alexandria University and w ...

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whi ...

* Elias Khoury * Etel Adnan * Ezzat el-Kamhawi *

Fadhil al-Azzawi Fadhil Al Azzawi (Arabic: فاضل العزاوي ; born 1940 in Kirkuk, Iraq) is an Iraqi writer highly respected in the Arab world, as he has published ten volumes of poetry, six novels, three books of criticism and memoir, and several translat ...

* Fady Joudeh *

Fathi Abul Nasr Fathi (Arabic: فَتْحِي ''fat·ḥiy/ fat·ḥī/ fat·ḥy'') is a given Arabic name or surname in the possessive form which means "victorious, triumphant". It may refer to: People *Ahmad Fathi Sorour, speaker of the Egyptian People's Assem ...

Ferial Ghazoul Ferial Jabouri Ghazoul is an Iraqi scholar, critic, and translator. She was educated in Iraq, Lebanon, Britain, France, and the USA. She obtained her PhD in comparative literature from Columbia University in 1978. Currently, she is chair and profe ...

* Fuad al-Takarli * Gamal el-Ghitani * Ghalib Halasa *

Ghassan Zaqtan Ghassan Zaqtan ( ar, غسان زقطان; born 1954) is a Palestinian poet, author of ten collections of poetry. He is also a novelist, editor. He was born in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and has lived in Jordan, Beirut, Damascus, and Tunis. His boo ...

Ghazi Algosaibi Ghazi Abdul Rahman Al Gosaibi ( ar, غازي بن عبدالرحمن القصيبي; 3 March 1940 – 15 August 2010) was a Saudi politician, diplomat, technocrat, poet, and novelist. He was an intellectual and a member of the Al Gosaibi family t ...

* Habib Abdulrab Sarori *

Habib Selmi Habib Selmi (Tunisian Arabic: حبيب السالمي) (born 31 January 1951) is a Tunisian novelist and short story writer. Early life He was born in Al-Ala near the historic city of Kairouan. To date, he has published eight novels and two sh ...

* Habib Tengour *

Haifa Bitar Hayfa Basil al-Baytar ( ar, هيفاء باسيل البيطار, ; also transliterated :''Haifa Bitar''; born 1960) is a Syrian novelist, short story writer and ophthalmologist. She has won the Abi Al Qassem Al Shabbi prize for her collections ' ...

* Halim Barakat *

Hanan al-Shaykh Hanan al-Shaykh ( ar, حنان الشيخ; born 12 November 1945, Beirut) is a Lebanese author of contemporary literature. Biography Hanan al-Shaykh was born Beirut, Lebanon, in 1945, into a strict Shi'a family. Her father and brother exerte ...

Hani al-Raheb Hani Muhammad-Ali al-Rahib ( ar, هاني محمد علي الراهب, translit=Hānī Rāhib or Hānī Rāheb; 30 November 1939 – 6 February 2000) was a Syrian novelist and literary academic who wrote a number of distinguished novels. ''The D ...

Hassan Abdulrazzak Hassan Abdulrazzak (Arabic: حسن عبد الرزاق) is an Iraqi playwright and writer. He was born in Prague and studied molecular biology at university, obtaining a PhD from University College London in 1999. He has written a number of plays ...

* Hassan Daoud *

Hassan Nasr Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

* Hassouna Mosbahi * Hoda Barakat * Huda Ablan * Hussain al-Mozany *

Huzama Habayeb Huzama Habayeb ( ar, ْحُزَامَة حَبَايِب ) is a Palestinian novelist, storyteller, columnist, translator, and poet who has won multiple awards such as Mahmoud Seif Eddin ِAl-Erani Award for Short Stories, Jerusalem Festival of ...

* Ibrahim Nasrallah *

Ibtisam Abdallah Ibtisam Abdallah ( ar, ابتسام عبد الله; 1942/1943 – 7 March 2023) was an Iraqi novelist, short-story writer and literary translator. Abdallah was born in Kirkuk but had lived mostly in Baghdad. As of 2001, she had published four no ...

* Inaya Jaber * Ines Abassi * Issa J Boullata * Jalil al-Qaisi * Jamal Mahjoub * Jamila Omairah * Kadhim Jihad * Kamal Abdellatif *

Kamal Ruhayyim Kamal Ruhayyim (Arabic: كمال رحيم) (born 1947) is an Egyptian writer. He obtained a doctorate in law from Cairo University, before pursuing a career in law enforcement (police and Interpol). As an author, he is best known for the Galal tr ...

* Khaled Mattawa *

Khalid Albudoor Khalid Albudoor is an Arabic poet born in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Albudoor, who was raised in Dubai, is considered to be one of the most important names in the modern poetry movement of the UAE Education and early work He studied ma ...

* Khulood Al Mu’alla *

Lamia Makaddam Lamia Makaddam ( ar, لمياء المقدم) (born 1971 in Sousse) is a Tunisian poet, journalist and translator. Biography Lamia Makaddam was born in 1971 in Sousse, Tunisia. She began writing poetry at an early age and, despite having no fe ...

Lisa Suhair Majaj Lisa Suhair Majaj (born 1960) is a Palestinian-American poet and scholar. Born in Hawarden, Iowa, Majaj was raised in Jordan. She earned a B.A. in English literature from American University of Beirut and an M.A. in English Literature, an ...

* Luay Hamza Abbas * Lutfiya al-Dulaimi * Mahdi Issa al-Saqr * Mahmood Abdel Wahab * Mahmoud Darwish *

Mahmoud Shukair Mahmoud Shukair (born 1941) is a Palestinians, Palestinian writer. He was born in Jabal al-Mukabbar in Jerusalem during the British Mandate and studied philosophy and sociology at Damascus University in Syria. He was jailed by the Israeli author ...

Mai Ghoussoub Mai Ghoussoub ( ar, مي غصوب; 2 November 1952, in Beirut – 17 February 2007, in London) was a Lebanon, Lebanese writer, artist, publisher and human rights activist. She was the co-founder in London of the Saqi bookshop and publishing house. ...

* Miled Faiza * Miral al-Tahawy * Mohamed al-Bisatie * Mohamed Choukri * Mohamed Salah al-Azab * Mohammad al-Maghut * Mohammad al-Qaood *

Mohammad al-Shaibani Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monothe ...

* Mohammad Ali Farhat * Mohammad Khodayyi *

Mohammed Al-Harthi Mohammed Al-Harthi ( ar, محمد الحارثي; born August 12, 1994) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Al-Najma. References Living people 1994 births Saudi Arabian men's footballers Saudi ...

* Mohammed Bennis * Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine * Mohammed Mustagab * Mohammed Zefzaf *

Mohja Kahf Mohja Kahf ( ar, مهجة قحف, born 1967 in Damascus) is a Syrian-American poet, novelist, and professor. She authored ''Hagar Poems'' which won honorable mention in the 2017 Book Awards of the Arab American National Museum. She is the recip ...

Mona Yahia Mona Yahia (born 1954 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an artist and writer; she publishes novels, stories, short stories and participates in art exhibitions and events. Life and career Mona Yahia was born and raised in Baghdad. She fled with her family to ...

* Mouayed al-Rawi * Nabila al-Zubair * Nadia Alkowkobani * Naguib Mahfouz *

Najwa Barakat Najwa Barakat ( ar, نجوى بركات, b. 1966, Beirut) is a Lebanese Arab novelist, journalist and film director. Career After achieving studies in theater (Beirut Fine Arts Institute) and cinema (French cinema Institution), she moves def ...

Nassif Falak Nassif (also spelled Naseef, Nassef or Nasiff, ar, ناصيف) is an Arabic masculine given and surname originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, primarily from Lebanon and Syria, derived from the Arabic word ''nasif'' meaning ''just'' or ''fair-mi ...

Nazih Abu Afash Nazih is both a given name and a surname. It is an Arabic origin word, (Arabic: نزيه). Notable people with the name include: Given name * Nazih Abu Afach (born 1946), Syrian poet and painter * Nazih Ayubi (1943–1995), Egyptian writer * Nazih ...

* Nazik al-Malaika * Nazum al-Obeidi * Nirvana Tanoukhi * Nizar Qabbani * Nouri al-Jarrah * Nujoom Al-Ghanem * Ounsi el Hage *

Paul Chaoul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

* Qassim Haddad *

Rabee Jaber Rabee Jaber ( ar, ربيع جابر; born 1972) is a Lebanese novelist and journalist, born in Beirut, Lebanon. Life Jaber studied Physics at the American University of Beirut (AUB). He is also editor of ''Afaaq'' (in Arabic آفاق meaning H ...

Rachid al-Daif Rashid El Daif (Arabic: رشيد الضعيف) (or Rasheed Al-Daif, Rachid El-Daïf, Rachid Al-Daif) (born 6 August 1945) is a Lebanese poet and novelist. He has been translated into 14 languages. He has been referred to as "the Arab world's answe ...

* Rachida Lamrabet * Rafik Schami *

Ramsey Nasr Ramsey Nasr (born 28 January 1974, Rotterdam) is a Dutch author and actor of mixed descent, half Palestinian, half Dutch. He was '' Dichter des Vaderlands'' (Poet of the Fatherland; an unofficial title for the Dutch poet laureate) between Januar ...

* Rasha Omran * Rashad Abu Shawar *

Sa'adallah Wannus Saadallah Wannous ( ar, سعد الله ونوس) (1941 – 15 May 1997) was a Syrian playwright, writer and editor on Arabic theater. He was born in the village of Hussein al-Bahr, near Tartous, where he received his early education. He studied ...

* Saadi Youssef * Said al-Kafrawi * Saif al-Rahbi *

Salah Hassan (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba with ...

* Salim Barakat *

Salwa al-Neimi Salwa, an Arabic name meaning "solace", may refer to: People *Princess Salwa Aga Khan (born 1988), American model, wife of Prince Rahim Aga Khan *Sally ("Salwa") Shatila Kader, Lebanese-American peace activist *Salwa Abdullah (born 1953), Syrian ...

* Samar Yazbek *

Samir Albufattah Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

* Samir Naqqash *

Saniya Salih Sania Saleh (1935–1985; Arabic: سنية صالح) was a Syrian writer and poet, who wrote and published several poetry collections. Some of her poetry has been translated into English by Marilyn Hacker. Biography Sania Saleh was born in the ci ...

Sargon Boulus Sargon Boulus ( syr, ܣܪܓܘܢ ܦܘܠܘܨ; ar, سركون بولص) was an Iraqi poet, journalist and writer. Born in 1944, he died on 22 October 2007. Biography Boulus was born on 10 March, 1944 in Habbaniyah, Iraq, to Assyrian parents. ...

* Sawsan al-Areeqi *

Shawqi Shafiq Shawqi Shafiq (born 1955 in Aden) is a Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia ...

* Tahar Ben Jelloun *

Tayeb Salih Tayeb Salih ( ar, الطيب صالح, aṭ-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ; 12 July 1929 – 18 February 2009) was a Sudanese writer, cultural journalist for the BBC Arabic programme as well as for Arabic journals, and a staff member of UNESCO. He is best ...

Turki al-Hamad Turki al-Hamad ( ar, تركي الحمد, ) is a Saudi Arabian political analyst, journalist, and novelist, best known for his trilogy about the coming-of-age of Hisham al-Abir, a Saudi Arabian teenager, the first installment of which, ''Adama'', ...

* Vénus Khoury-Ghata *

Wacini Laradg Waciny Laredj (Arabic: واسيني الأعرج, pronounced Wasini al-A'raj) (born 8 August 1954) is an Algerian novelist, short story writer and academic. Biography Laredj was born in Sidi Bou Jnan in Tlemcen province. He obtained a BA in Ar ...

* Wajdi al-Ahdal *

Wilfred Thesiger Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer. Thesiger's trav ...

* Yasmine Khlat * Yasser Abdel Baqi *

Yasser Abdel Hafez Yasser Abdel Hafez (Arabic: ياسر عبد الحفيظ), (born 1969) is an Egyptian novelist and journalist. He was born in Cairo and studied law at Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public unive ...

Youssef Rakha Youssef Rakha (; born on 12 June 1976 in Cairo, Egypt) is an Egyptian writer. His work explores language and identity in the context of Cairo, and reflects connections with the Arab-Islamic canon and world literature. He has worked in many genres ...

* Yusef Habshi al-Ashqar *

Zakariyya Tamer Zakaria Tamer ( ar, زكريا تامر, Zakariyyā Tāmir; born January 2, 1931), also spelled Zakariya Tamir, is a Syrian short story writer. He is one of the most important and widely read and translated short story writers in the Arab worl ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1998 Triannual magazines published in the United Kingdom Literary translation magazines