Beirut39 is a collaborative project between the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, t ...

, Beirut UNESCO's

World Book Capital The World Book Capital (WBC) is an initiative of UNESCO which recognises cities for promoting books and fostering reading for a year starting on April 23rd, World Book and Copyright Day. Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital carry out act ...

2009 celebrations, ''

Banipal ''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London in 1998 by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon. The magazine is published three tim ...

'' magazine and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

among others in order to identify 39 of the most promising Arab writers under the age of 39. The project was carried out during 2009-10 and followed on the success of Bogotá39, an earlier contest held in 2007 to identify the most promising young

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

writers. In connection with Port Harcourt being World Book Capital 2014,

Africa39 Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potent ...

was launched by Hay Festival, featuring 39 writers under the age of 40 from sub-Saharan Africa. Beirut39's requirements for eligibity stipulated that the author be born in or after 1970, be of Arab heritage and have at least one publication. The judges for the contest included Egyptian literary critic

Gaber Asfour Gaber Ahmed Asfour ( ar, جابر أحمد عصفور, (25 March 1944 – 31 December 2021) was an Egyptian academic and politician who was a professor at Cairo University from 1966. He was appointed the Minister of Culture on 1 February 2011. ...

, Lebanese poet and journalist Abdo Wazen, Lebanese writer

Alawiya Sobh Alawiya Sobh (Arabic: علوية صبح) (born 1955) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese writer and author. Biography Born in Beirut, Sobh studied English & Arabic Literature at the Lebanese University. Upon graduation in 1978, she pursued a career i ...

and Omani poet and journalist Saif Al Rahbi. The project resulted in a literary anthology called ''Beirut39: New Writing from the Arab World'', edited by Samuel Shimon of ''Banipal'' magazine and published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

in 2010. The book was published in both English and Arabic.

The list

* – Abdelaziz Errachidi (born 1978) * –

Abdelkader Benali Abdelkader Benali ( ar, عبد القادر بنعلي; born 25 November 1975 in Ighazzazen, Morocco) is a Moroccan-Dutch writer and journalist. When he was four years old, he and his family, of Berber background, migrated to The Netherlands and ...

(born 1975) * –

Abdellah Taïa Abdellah Taïa ( ar, عبد الله الطايع; born 1973) is a Moroccan writer and filmmaker who writes in the French language and has been based in Paris since 1998. He has published eight novels, many of them heavily autobiographical. Hi ...

(born 1973) * – Abderrahim Elkhassar (born 1975) * – Abderrazak Boukebba (born 1977) * – Abdullah Thabit (born 1973) * –

Adania Shibli Adania Shibli ( ar, عدنية شبلي) is a Palestinian author and essayist. She was born in Palestine in 1974. Personal life and education Shibli holds a Ph.D. from the University of East London in Media and Cultural Studies. Her disserta ...

(born 1974) * – Ahmad Saadawi (born 1973) * – Ahmad Yamani (born 1970) * –

Ala Hlehel Ala Hlehel (born 1974) is a Palestinian writer. He was born in Jesh, Galilee. He studied at the University of Haifa, and went on to work in both print and broadcast media in Haifa. Trained as a scriptwriter in Tel Aviv, he has written stage plays ...

(born 1974) * – Bassim al Ansar (born 1970) * – Dima Wannous (born 1982) * –

Faïza Guène Faïza Guène (born 7 June 1985) is a French writer and director, best known for her two novels, ''Kiffe kiffe demain'' and ''Du rêve pour les oufs''. She has also directed several short films, including ''Rien que des mots'' (2004). Biography ...

(born 1985) * – Hala Kawtharani (born 1977) * – Hamdy el Gazzar (born 1970) * – Hussein al Abri (born 1972) * – Hussein Jelaad (born 1970) * – Hyam Yared (born 1975) * – Islam Samhan (born 1982) * –

Joumana Haddad Joumana Haddad ( ar, جمانة حداد) ( Salloum; born December 6, 1970 in Beirut) is a Lebanese author, public speaker, journalist and human rights activist. She has been selected as one of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab women by Arabi ...

(born 1970) * – Kamel Riahi (born 1974) * – Mansour El Souwaim (born 1970) * – Mansoura Ez Eldin (born 1976) * – Mohammad Hassan Alwan (born 1979) * – Mohammad Salah al Azab (born 1981) * – Nagat Ali (born 1975) * – Najwa Binshatwan (born 1970) * – Najwan Darwish (born 1978) * – Nazem El Sayed (born 1975) * –

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 ...

(born 1972) * – Randa Jarrar (born 1978) * – Rosa Yassin Hassan (born 1974) * –

Samar Yezbek Samar Yazbek ( ar, سمر يزبك, born 1970 in Jableh, Syria) is a Syrian writer and journalist. She studied Arabic literature at Tishreen University (Latakia). She has written in a wide variety of genres including novels, short stories, film scr ...

(born 1970) * – Samer Abou Hawwash (born 1972) * – Wajdi al Ahdal (born 1973) * – Yahya Amqassim (born 1971) * – Yassin Adnan (born 1970) * – Youssef Rakha (born 1976) * – Zaki Baydoun (born 1981)

References

External links

Beirut39
(Hay Festival)
New Yorker magazine's 20 under 40
Arabic literary awards 2009 introductions {{lit-mov-stub

The list

See also

References

External links