Translation on Adam Talib

Empty Cages

Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“The brilliance of [Qandil’s] prose lies in its reflection of the complex emotions we endure when those we love disappoint us” — New Arab

Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, Empty Cages presents an urgent and raw confessional narrative examining memory, family, and loss across one woman’s lifetime.

The narrative begins with discovery of an old chocolate tin, then traces memories spanning the 1960s to present day. Central to the work is the mother-daughter relationship. Qandil documents growing up in a middle-class Egyptian family as the youngest child, witnessing declining family fortunes. The account encompasses her father’s addiction, her mother’s illness, her brothers’ failings, and multiple forms of violence and death—both literal and figurative.

The Doves' Necklace

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Co-translated with Katharine Halls.

Winner of the 2017 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation (tied for 1st place, Arabic-to-English category).

“Alem, the first woman to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, blends surrealism and mystery in this challenging novel, which opens with the Lane of Many Heads taking on narrative duty” — Publisher’s Weekly

“While the novel’s setting is contemporary, Ms. Alem tinges each page with the musky, byzantine ambience of Mecca and the Lane, an atmosphere faithfully rendered in Katharine Halls and Adam Talib’s nuanced translation.” — Words Without Borders

Sarmada

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“[…] the gem of the Arabic literature of dissent.” — The New Yorker

“Brimful of magic, Sarmada is a book to be swallowed in rapturous gulps. It’s beautifully written and, save the rare plunge into cliché, beautifully translated by Adam Talib.” — The Independent

“Sarmada by Fadi Azzam is a unique and audacious book by pretty much any measure: drawing heavily on the both Scheherazadian tradition of stories within stories, and elements of magical realism” — Eleutherophobia

The Hashish Waiter

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“Twelve years on from the first publication of The Hashish Waiter in Arabic, its hero Rowdy Salih can be seen as a precursor of the millions of Egyptians who finally rose up and said ‘Enough’ and ‘No’ in the 2011 revolution.” — Banipal Magazine

“The translation by Adam Talib is zesty and enjoyable; Talib is resourceful in rendering into English the author’s rich prose style peppered with dialect, slang and hashish-related jargon.” — Banipal Magazine

Cairo Swan Song

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“[…] given the city’s political and social climate, that may be about right. Either way, it seems hard to argue with the air of desperation and resignation Said’s characters and prose evoke.” — The Independent

“Cairo Swan Song makes intriguing reading for those interested in contemporary third-world and developing societies, without any grand statements attempting to capture the ’essence’ of the country and its peoples.” — University of Texas

“At its best, Cairo Swan Song does hold up a mirror to something very real about the line between art, charity, and profiting off other people’s exotic misery.” — Rain Taxi

Le Gallienne's Paraphrase and the Limits of Translation

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000