Last Friday was International Translation Day – and Arabic translators woke to the news that the American Literary Translators Association had announced its shortlist for the National Translation Awards.
Alongside books from Brazil, Algeria, Bulgaria and Italy was Humphrey Davies' brilliant English version of Leg Over Leg, by celebrated 19th-century Lebanese writer Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq.
The winner will be announced at ALTA’s annual conference at the Marriott Oakland City Center in Oakland, California, which runs from tomorrow until Sunday, but even those with just a passing interest in Arabic writing should add this “novel” – also a travelogue, history lesson and treatise on writing – to their library.
