Samuel Shimon – författare

In July 2026 Banipal Books releases a reprint of the revised third edition of An Iraqi in Paris in English translation which has been out of print for almost a year. The paperback reprint, not the e-book has a completely new design, with new cover and a total of 336 pages. An Iraqi in Paris is known throughout the Arab world as the best-selling “gem of autobiographical writing”, by an author who has been called “a relentless raconteur”, “a modern Odysseus”, “the Iraqi Don Quixote”. Providentially leaving Iraq just before Saddam Hussein installs himself as President, the Assyrian narrator of An Iraqi in Paris, Samuel Shimon, dreams of becoming a Hollywood film-maker after his hero John Ford, but after arrest and torture in Syria – accused of being a Jewish spy on account of his name, similar treatment in Jordan, and escaping execution in Lebanon by armed militia, he eventually lands on the streets of Paris, where he meets up with Jean Valjean and tries to escape his fate as a homeless refugee with wit, humour and amorous adventures, all the while writing the story of his childhood, his deaf-mute father Kika, and film buff Kiryakos. After all his experiences, Samuel Shimon, “the runaway from museums”, writes an urgently needed and timely “manifesto of tolerance”. Translated from the Arabic by Christina Phillips and Piers Amodia with the author.

Banipal magazine’s 60th issue presents a major feature on the influential Egyptian author Alaa al-Deeb, with translations from his pivotal works and articles by six fellow Egyptian writers. Other authors include Safi Said (Tunisia), Abdallah Uld Mohamadi Bah (Mauritania), Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (Sudan) and two poets from Tunisia and Syria.

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have created a revolution in literature, writing nearly 600 novels. Banipal's first issue of 2018 focuses on this unexpected journey in Iraqi fiction with articles and chapters from selected novels. Plus two poets and the 6 Shortlisted novels of the 2018 IPAF.

“Travels” features five Arab travel writers: Iraqi Farouk Yousif in New York; Tunisian Hassouna Mosbahi in Andalucia; Algerian Said Khatibi in Sarajevo; Moroccan-Dutch Abdelkader Benali in Tangiers and Syrian-Danish Monir Almajid in Japan. Plus profiles on Jordanian Kafa Al-Zou‘bi and British poet Linda France, and other fiction and poetry works.

Banipal 67 – Elias Khoury, The Novelist presents a major feature on the celebrated Lebanese and international author, with excerpts from his latest novel Stella Maris, the second in the Children of the Ghetto trilogy, and a chapter from his first novel (until now not translated), plus in-depth articles on the corpus of novels including translations of his works into Hebrew, and reviews of his early novels. • We bid Adieu to poet Amjad Nasser in Fakhri Saleh’s essay on his poetry collections. • We introduce two winners of the Moroccan Argana International Poetry Prize – Wadih Saadeh and Hawad. • Also featured are the six shortlisted novels of the 2020 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. • Plus works by two well-known Iraqi writers: Muhammad Khudayyir and Muhsin al-Musawi – and poems by three young poets from Lebanon, Palestine and Tunisia. MANY THANKS to all our contributors, authors, translators, and editors, who have been working from home under coronavirus restrictions.

Banipal 70 – Mahmoud Shukair, Writing Jerusalem is a rich issue of diverse authors and literary news to inspire and enthuse you in this continuing time of Covid-19.The main feature on Palestinian author Mahmoud Shukair is a gift to the great Jerusalemite on his 80th birthday – which took place in March this year – with articles, short stories, reviews of his two collections in English translation, and his trilogy of novels of Jerusalem family life.Two recent Arabic novels are reviewed and excerpted: At Rest in the Cherry Orchard by Iraqi author Azher Jirjees, and No One Prayed over Their Graves by Syrian author Khaled Khalifa. Also included, a memorable short story “A Bicycle Brings an Old Comrade” by Egyptian author Hassan Abdel Mawgoud.Lebanese author Alawiya Sobh talks to Katia al-Tawil about her latest novel To Love Life, with three chapters excerpted.Guest writer is Gibraltarian poet and translator Trino Cruz, working in both Spanish and English, with selected poems from The Fertile Shore.Plus an interview with the editors of the Maktoob project, which translates and publishes Arabic literature in Hebrew.

This unique feature on Iraqi Jewish writers includes short stories, excerpts from novels, and poems – written by 17 authors – all of whom are of Iraqi descent. For several centuries, Iraqi Jews were key contributors to Iraq’s rich social and cultural tapestry – active in all areas of life as novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, musicians, composers, singers, and artists. Sadly, all this came to a tragic end with the massive transfer-emigration and forced displacement of Iraqi Jews in the 1950s to Israel. The feature also includes introductory essays about the authors and poets, who are of different generations, traversing a wide range of languages – from the poetry of the Mani brothers at the turn of the 20th century to the works of Almog Behar and Mati Shemoelof in the early noughties. The texts raise universal questions of belongingness, exile, diaspora, cross-national affinities, and cross-linguistic possibilities. All texts were either translated directly from Arabic (approximately two-thirds) or from Hebrew, with one written originally in English.

A fully revised third edition in translation of this best-selling ''gem of autobiographical writing'' in the Arab world, by an author who has been called ''a relentless raconteur'', ''a modern Odysseus'', ''the Iraqi Don Quixote''. Providentially leaving Iraq just before Saddam Hussein installs himself as President, the Assyrian narrator of An Iraqi in Paris dreams of becoming a Hollywood film-maker after his hero John Ford, but after arrest and torture in Syria - accused of being a Jewish spy on account of his name, similar treatment in Jordan, and escaping execution in Lebanon by armed militia, he eventually lands up on the streets of Paris, where he meets up with Jean Valjean and tries to escape his fate as a homeless refugee with wit, humour and amorous adventures, all the while writing the story of his childhood, his deaf-mute father Kika, and film buff Kiryakos. After all his experiences, Samuel Shimon, ''the runaway from museums'', writes an urgently needed and timely ''manifesto of tolerance''. Translated from the Arabic by Christina Phillips and Piers Amodia with the author.

Bagdad noir es una antología de catorce cuentos ficcionales que exploran el crimen en Bagdad. Cada historia narra un crimen diferente: la sospechosa muerte de una señora mayor, el secuestro de un niño pequeño, el aparente suicidio de un joven, entre muchas otras cautivantes narrativas. En este libro, los lectores se entretendrán con todos los cuentos tan diferentes uno del otro y, sin embargo, tan similares en su deseo de representar la vida de los habitantes de Bagdad, una vida marcada por la guerra, la violencia, la desolación y la resiliencia de los personajes. Esta compilación es imperdible para todos los lectores que no sólo están interesados en la literatura noir, sino en la humanidad e individualidad de los habitantes de Bagdad.

Un iraquí en París es la historia de un migrante que deja su país natal buscando llegar a Hollywood para cumplir su sueño: realizar una película acerca de un panadero sordo —su padre— y que dicho personaje sea interpretado por Robert de Niro. Además es el relato de quien termina en París luego de muchas vicisitudes y entrega al lector un texto sensible y veraz sobre sus vivencias en bares y estaciones del metro al lado de personajes a la Jean Valjean. Con una mirada tenazmente minuciosa y sosegada, Samuel Shimon va de la historia de su infancia a su interés por el cine y las películas de John Ford para concebir esta novela, ese guion cinematográfico que no fue.