We talk to Robin Moger about how he became a translator from Arabic and about what has changed in recent years in the field of Arabic literature and translation and what has stayed the same. Moger’s first book-length literary translation was Hamdi Abu Golayyel’s 2008 novel الفاعل, which became A Dog with No Tail. His most recent is a translation of Iman Mersal’s في أثر عنايات الزيات, which appears as Traces of Enayat from And Other Stories in the UK (2023) and Transit Books in the US (2024). 

Show Notes:

This episode is produced in collaboration with the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is one of the Arab world’s most prestigious literary prizes, showcasing the stimulating and ambitious work of writers, translators, researchers, academics and publishers advancing Arab literature and culture around the globe. For more information about the award visit zayedaward.ae

Moger’s old website, Qisas Ukhra, is still available at qisasukhra.wordpress.com. The poem “The Translator’s Soliloquy,” which was read on this episode, is also there. 

More information about his online and offline translations is available at his website: www.robinmoger.com/translations.

You can read an excerpt of Traces of Enayat at ArabLit.

Don’t miss our previous episode with Iman Mersal, “The Books You Need to Read and Write.”

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