Adam Talib
آدم طالبAssociate Professor of Classical Arabic Literature at The American University in Cairo, literary translator, and scholar of premodern Arabic poetics
I study premodern Arabic literature, poetics, and literary history with a focus on how neglected archives reshape the way we write comparative literature and world literature.
My work brings together comparative literature, Classical Arabic philology, translation, and the study of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish texts. It includes research on Arabic maqātīʿ-poetry, premodern Islamicate literatures, and literary translation from Arabic into English.
From the field · Photographs by Adam Talib
Latest Research
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13 April 2026
An introduction to this new section of the site — a space for supplementary research materials, notes, and data.
Featured Publications
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2018
How Do You Say "Epigram" in Arabic?: Literary History at the Limits of Comparison
The first history of the Arabic epigram form (maqṭūʿ), extremely popular c. 1200–1900.
2016
Arabic Literature, 1200–1800: A New Orientation
Co-edited special issue reorienting the study of Arabic literature 1200–1800.
Turath Games
An independent studio exploring Arab and Islamic cultural heritage through interactive media and games.