Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Reminder of all stops :

1- Personal Memoirs
2- Realistic Contemporary Fiction
3- Essays / politics/journalism
4- Fantasy and symbolism
5- Historical Fiction
6- Poetry





1- Personal Memoirs - January – February 2012


Morroco:
Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

Egypt
Specters
A Border Passage: From Cairo to America--A Woman's Journey
If anyone is interested in classics (Memoirs of a Woman Doctor and The Open Door )

Palestine
In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story

Lebanon
The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story

Jordan
Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life

KSA Girls of Riyadh

Iraq Baghdad Diaries: A Woman's Chronicle of War and Exile
Barefoot in Baghdad

Iran Iran Awakening, Reading Lolita in Tehran

Turkey
A classic one House With Wisteria: Memoirs of Halide Edib

Afganistan
The Storyteller's Daughter: One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland
A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan

Somalia Desert Dawn

Sure we will not put all these books in a poll , but just discovering our options as a beginning …

This is a great topic. I'd like to be involved in this group. I will look for others titles.

Thanks.

Lauren wrote: "This is a great topic. I'd like to be involved in this group. I will look for others titles.

Thanks."

Thanks :) waiting for your recommendations .

Everyone :

We want to set "1- Personal Memoirs - January – February 2012" soon , any notes or recommendations ?

Here are some more recommendations. I am not sure how to link.
Alot of these have been published by the Feminist Press.

Lebanon - The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing by Darina Al-Joudi

Iran - novels by Sharhmush Parispur (Women without Men, Touba and the Middle of the Night

Algiers - Assia Djebar, lots of books by her including Children of the New world and Women in Algiers in Their Apartment.

Iraq - Dreaming of Baghdad by Haifa Zangana, Naphtalene by Alia Mandouh

Egypt - Harem Yearsby Huda Shaarwi

If we are including Israel, I suggest something by Yehudit Kazir (Dearest Anne) or Michel Govrin. Both authors deal with women and women's issues.

Another title of interest might be On Shifting Ground: Muslim women in the Global Era by Fereshteh Nourgie-Simone.

Duh, I relaize I am suggesting a mix of novels, non-fiction and memoir.

I think only the Darina al-Joudi and the Shharwi are memoirs.

Lauren wrote: "Duh, I relaize I am suggesting a mix of novels, non-fiction and memoir.

I think only the Darina al-Joudi and the Shharwi are memoirs."

Lauren, you can link by clicking on "add book/author" above the text box you write in, and it will give you a search box. you can search by either title of the book or author name. you'll see...try it! :D

The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing

Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist

Yea for me!

Lauren wrote: "Yea for me!"

yay! :D

Wow , so many recommendations ! Thanks Lauren :)

I will add ,To memoirs :

lebanon ,The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing

Egypt,Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist

Iraq , Dreaming of Baghdad

* I guess we can add Shahrnush Parsipur' s books to Realistic Contemporary Fiction, also Dearest Anne

Assia Djebar's books to "Realistic Contemporary Fiction" , "Essays and politics" and "Historical Fiction"

*****
I need an advice , this may become a huge poll ! so how do you think we should pick the books for the poll ? ...say classics , feminism , politics ...what do you prefer ?

Hmm,
What about

Morocco: Year of the Elephant
and
Iraq: Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London

(have you already read these ?)

Yes, it seems we have a lot to choose from, ND! Not sure how we should decide though...

Haaze wrote: "Hmm,
What about

Morocco: Year of the Elephant
and
Iraq: Women on a Journey: Between Baghdad and London

(have you already read these ?)"

Thanks !:) I will add them to "Realistic Contemporary Fiction" stop

Bernadette wrote: "Yes, it seems we have a lot to choose from, ND! Not sure how we should decide though..."

Not sure , the most popular ? one from each country ?

poll is over , we will be reading In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story, but the salon will be open if you want to read any if the books we mentioned here .

All the choices looked good, but I was hoping Fatima would win. I actually picked up a copy from the library last week and am planning to start in soon! Looking forward to a great discussion :-)

i read Fatima years ago and loved it. unfortunately i lent it to a friend and never got it back and i'm no longer friends with that friend. oops. :S
i'll very likely read another book in the salon...there were so many good choices!!

Is there a specific thread for In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story? I cannot seem to find it?

Sorry! That's my fault Haaze! I need to set it up but my weekend ended up being busier than I had anticipated. I will set it up this evening.

Marieke wrote: "Sorry! That's my fault Haaze! I need to set it up but my weekend ended up being busier than I had anticipated. I will set it up this evening."

I know how it is! No worries.. :) . Besides, I am just getting started on it. It looks very interesting....

I'm a little over halfway done and am loving it. Can't wait for the discussion :-)

i just set it up here in this folder. Again, my apologies!

Hello. I just joined this group and am interested in reading along. It looks as though you are already ready to discuss In Search of Fatima--a book I will have to order, so I was wondering what your next book is? Do you already have a list or vote as you go? Thanks.

Danielle wrote: "Hello. I just joined this group and am interested in reading along. It looks as though you are already ready to discuss In Search of Fatima--a book I will have to order, so I was wondering what y..."

Hello Danielle , within the next 2 weeks , we will open a new thread for the next stop "2- Realistic Contemporary Fiction" , it will be for book recommendations and then comes the poll . next reading is planned to start on (March 1st) .

Danielle, we have not finished the discussion for Fatima, so please do join us!

In fact, we haven't even really begun in earnest. By all means if it is something that interests you, join the discussion. :)

Nile Daughter--Thanks--I'm looking forward to it. I've been trying to browse and look for contemporary Arab fiction myself so this will be really helpeful.

Marieke--I'll be ordering the book tonight and hope it will arrive quickly. Unfortunately my library doesn't own it, but it looks interesting!

I think it's a really well-written and informative memoir. Reactions in the discussion thread indicate that others are also enjoying it--I hope you do, too!

Marieke--Thanks. My copy is on its way!