Khaleej Newspaper Interview
(Sharjah, UAE)
.. Journalism is my profession and source of income but my literary
writing is a basic part of what I am as a human being. I would
confess it is not as simple as it sounds. In the West, writers who
make a living from their literary writings are a few. They are
vastly fewer in the Arab World. Literary writing in Arabic is not
financially viable. I don't know many writers who make a living out
of publishing novels or short stories. The situation is unlikely to
change in the near future, not in my lifetime anyway. What is the
alternative though? To leave writing to the princes, the wealthy and
the high-salaried government officials and diplomats? Isn't it
enough that they have the entire business market to roam as they
please? More..
Oman Newspaper Interview
(Oman)
... I met the novelist A. S. Bishtawi in London where he has taken
residence. I began by noting that the novel Traces of a Tattoo
brings to mind novels that do not conform to rules set by literary
critics at a given time and imposed on writers and readers. I wanted
to know why does it have something of everything: romance, realism,
imagination, and whether he shares my belief that it provides an
exemplary simple characterisation of otherwise complex existence of
the characters. What, above all, is the message, or messages, he
wanted to convey... More..
Al Quds Al Arabi Interview (London)
The publication of the novel Times of Death and Roses, has angered a
number of friends and colleagues who, I think, did not understand
the reason for choosing the massacre of Sabra and Shatilla and the
Lebanese civil war as a backdrop for this work. I've been very
careful in selecting my background information using only the most
credible reports. I talked to numerous eyewitnesses and added all
that to my own information. I do not care to lose all those who want
me to lose them if otherwise I would be prevented from saying what I
believe is true. They can go to hell, for all I care.More..
Al Alam (The World) Magazine Interview (London)
In the final analysis we spend our lives trying to satisfy the needs
of our bellies, sexual organs, mind and soul. The basic issues are
really very few in number and to put some, or all, of them under
different lights is essentially an inward-outward experience. I do
not believe we are simply talking here about literary projections
but rather about an attempt to intersect an observed psychological
case, or cases, in the hope that others may share them, or
sympathise with them, and maybe see themselves in similar
situations. The most important issue, in my opinion, is that writers
should not view national struggles and social trends as irrelevant
to their work but at the same time they should avoid turning their
works into naked political statements because these will not please
even the ultra committed of readers to the causes they espouse.
More..
