We talk about looking down on dialect; passing literary theft off as “salvation”; the beginning of awards season; a book that is a fragmented portrait of Jerusalem; and our fellow podcasters in the region.

Show notes

• The controversy over the appearance ofsome darija (Moroccan colloquial) words in a Moroccan school textbookreached the highest levels of government.

• Since we recorded Episode 20, Israel’sResling Publishinghas pulled a short-story collection,Horreya,in which they published women’s short stories translated from Arabic to Hebrew. Resling’s statement says that they are investigating the matter. The cover image, by the Lebanese cartoonist Hasan Bleibel, was also taken without permission, and the artist was not credited for his work. Earlier, Resling’s chief editor, Idan Zivoni,gave a statement that was translated and posted onHyperallergic.

• The shortlist for the first-everArabLit Story Prizewas announced September 15; longlists for the major French literary prizes have also appeared.Moroccan author Meryem Alaoui made the Goncourt longlistwith herLaverite sort de la bouche du cheval,andSyrian novelist Samar Yazbek made the Prix Femina longlistwith Khaled Osman’s translation of herالمشّاءة,translated toLa Marcheusein the French, and working titleThe Blue Penin English.

• The work of postcard-like fragment-stories set in Jerusalem isMahmoud Shukair’sJerusalem Stands Alone,which has recently been translated by Nicole Fares for Syracuse University Press.

• We also mention some other great podcast networks in the region:Sowt from Jordanandmstdfr from Saudi Arabia.