Dinarzad's Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction
edited by Pauline Kaldas and Khaled Mattawa
University of Arkansas Press, 2009 eISBN: 978-1-61075-126-1 | Paper: 978-1-55728-912-4 Library of Congress Classification PS647.A72D56 2009 Dewey Decimal Classification 813.010892705
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The first edition of Dinarzad’s Children was a groundbreaking and popular anthology that brought to light the growing body of short fiction being written by Arab Americans. This expanded edition includes sixteen new stories —thirty in all—and new voices and is now organized into sections that invite readers to enter the stories from a variety of directions. Here are stories that reveal the initial adjustments of immigrants, the challenges of forming relationships, the political nuances of being Arab American, the vision directed towards homeland, and the ongoing search for balance and identity. The contributors are D. H. Melhem, Mohja Khaf, Rabih Alameddine, Rawi Hage, Laila Halaby, Patricia Sarrafian Ward, Alia Yunis, Diana Abu Jaber, Susan Muaddi Darraj, Samia Serageldin, Alia Yunis, Joseph Geha, May Monsoor Munn, Frances Khirallah Nobel, Nabeel Abraham, Yussef El Guindi, Hedy Habra, Randa Jarrar, Zahie El Kouri, Amal Masri, Sahar Mustafah, Evelyn Shakir, David Williams, Pauline Kaldas, and Khaled Mattawa.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Pauline Kaldas is assistant professor of English and creative writing at Hollins University. She was born in Egypt and immigrated to the United States in 1969. She is the author of Letters from Cairo and Egyptian Compass.
Khaled Mattawa, a 2014 MacArthur fellow, is associate professor Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was born in Libya and immigrated to the United States in 1979. He is the author of four books of poetry and a number of translations of contemporary Arab poetry. His work has won two Pushcart Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and awards from the Academy of American Poets, PEN, and NEA.
REVIEWS
Praise for the first edition: Silver Award (Anthologies), ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards “A moving and important anthology. . . . An invaluable resource and a solid compendium. . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal “Starred Review” “A timely and moving collection . . . [that] underlines the similarities between recent immigrants and their American neighbors, thus emphasizing all that we have in common beneath the veneer of culture.” —Booklist “Admirable in their own right, these stories are also ‘testaments to the humanity of a heterogeneous and complex group of people’ whose work deserves both recognition and celebration.” —MELUS Magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Introduction 000
How We Are Bound by Patricia Sarrafian Ward 000
The New World by Susan Muaddi Darraj 000
A Frame for the Sky by Randa Jarrar 000
Lost in Freakin' Yonkers by Randa Jarrar 000
Oh, Lebanon by Evelyn Shakir 000
Fire and Sand by Laila Halaby 000
News from Phoenix by Joseph Geha 000
And What Else? by Joseph Geha 000
The Salad Lady by Rawi Hage 000
The Coal Bin by D. H. Melhem 000
Manar of Hama by Mohja Kahf 000
The Spiced Chicken Queen of Mickaweaquah, Iowa by Mohja Kahf 000
Stage Directions for an Extended Conversation by Yussef El Guindi 000
It's Not about That by Samia Serageldin 000
Airport by Pauline Kaldas 000
Bluebird by Pauline Kaldas 000
Edge of Rock by May Mansoor Munn 000
Shakespeare in the Gaza Strip by Sahar Kayyal 000
Arabic Lessons by David Williams 000
The Temptation of Lugman Abdallah by Nabeel Abraham 000
First Snow by Khaled Mattawa 000
The Hike to Heart Rock by Frances Khirallah Noble 000
The American Way by Frances Khirallah Noble 000
My Elizabeth by Diana Abu-Jaber 000
Contributors' Notes 000
Selected Bibliography of Arab American Literature 00
Acknowledgments
Our sincerest thanks goes to everyone who has supported this project,
especially Lisa Suhair Majaj and T. J. Anderson III.
Thanks also goes to Alyssa Antonelli and Amelia Boldaji. Their dedication and
attention to detail helped us to bring this book to life.
Our appreciation goes to the University of Arkansas Press, especially Larry
Malley, for his encouragement and belief in the importance of this book.
Credits
"My Elizabeth," by Diana Abu-Jaber, was originally published in the Kenyon Review
17 (Winter 1995).
"And What Else" and "News from Phoenix" copyright 1990 by Joseph Geha.
Reprinted from Through and Through with the permission of Graywolf Press,
Saint Paul, Minnesota.
"Stage Directions for an Extended Conversation," by Yussef El Guindi, was originally
published in Mizna 3.3 (2001).
"Fire and Sand" copyright 2003 by Laila Halaby. Reprinted from West of the Jordan
by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.
"Edge of Rock," by May Mansoor Munn, was originally published in Ms. 3 (October
1992).
"The American Way" and "The Hike to Heart Rock" copyright 2000 by Frances
Khirallah Noble. Reprinted from The Situe Stories with the permission of
Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York.
"Oh, Lebanon," by Evelyn Shakir, was originally published in Flyway 7 (Fall/Winter
2002).
"How We Are Bound," by Patricia Sarrafian Ward, was originally published in
Ararat (Autumn 1996).
"Arabic Lessons," by David Williams, was originally published in Flyway 7
(Fall/Winter 2002).
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Dinarzad's Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction
edited by Pauline Kaldas and Khaled Mattawa
University of Arkansas Press, 2009 eISBN: 978-1-61075-126-1 Paper: 978-1-55728-912-4
The first edition of Dinarzad’s Children was a groundbreaking and popular anthology that brought to light the growing body of short fiction being written by Arab Americans. This expanded edition includes sixteen new stories —thirty in all—and new voices and is now organized into sections that invite readers to enter the stories from a variety of directions. Here are stories that reveal the initial adjustments of immigrants, the challenges of forming relationships, the political nuances of being Arab American, the vision directed towards homeland, and the ongoing search for balance and identity. The contributors are D. H. Melhem, Mohja Khaf, Rabih Alameddine, Rawi Hage, Laila Halaby, Patricia Sarrafian Ward, Alia Yunis, Diana Abu Jaber, Susan Muaddi Darraj, Samia Serageldin, Alia Yunis, Joseph Geha, May Monsoor Munn, Frances Khirallah Nobel, Nabeel Abraham, Yussef El Guindi, Hedy Habra, Randa Jarrar, Zahie El Kouri, Amal Masri, Sahar Mustafah, Evelyn Shakir, David Williams, Pauline Kaldas, and Khaled Mattawa.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Pauline Kaldas is assistant professor of English and creative writing at Hollins University. She was born in Egypt and immigrated to the United States in 1969. She is the author of Letters from Cairo and Egyptian Compass.
Khaled Mattawa, a 2014 MacArthur fellow, is associate professor Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was born in Libya and immigrated to the United States in 1979. He is the author of four books of poetry and a number of translations of contemporary Arab poetry. His work has won two Pushcart Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and awards from the Academy of American Poets, PEN, and NEA.
REVIEWS
Praise for the first edition: Silver Award (Anthologies), ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards “A moving and important anthology. . . . An invaluable resource and a solid compendium. . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal “Starred Review” “A timely and moving collection . . . [that] underlines the similarities between recent immigrants and their American neighbors, thus emphasizing all that we have in common beneath the veneer of culture.” —Booklist “Admirable in their own right, these stories are also ‘testaments to the humanity of a heterogeneous and complex group of people’ whose work deserves both recognition and celebration.” —MELUS Magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Introduction 000
How We Are Bound by Patricia Sarrafian Ward 000
The New World by Susan Muaddi Darraj 000
A Frame for the Sky by Randa Jarrar 000
Lost in Freakin' Yonkers by Randa Jarrar 000
Oh, Lebanon by Evelyn Shakir 000
Fire and Sand by Laila Halaby 000
News from Phoenix by Joseph Geha 000
And What Else? by Joseph Geha 000
The Salad Lady by Rawi Hage 000
The Coal Bin by D. H. Melhem 000
Manar of Hama by Mohja Kahf 000
The Spiced Chicken Queen of Mickaweaquah, Iowa by Mohja Kahf 000
Stage Directions for an Extended Conversation by Yussef El Guindi 000
It's Not about That by Samia Serageldin 000
Airport by Pauline Kaldas 000
Bluebird by Pauline Kaldas 000
Edge of Rock by May Mansoor Munn 000
Shakespeare in the Gaza Strip by Sahar Kayyal 000
Arabic Lessons by David Williams 000
The Temptation of Lugman Abdallah by Nabeel Abraham 000
First Snow by Khaled Mattawa 000
The Hike to Heart Rock by Frances Khirallah Noble 000
The American Way by Frances Khirallah Noble 000
My Elizabeth by Diana Abu-Jaber 000
Contributors' Notes 000
Selected Bibliography of Arab American Literature 00
Acknowledgments
Our sincerest thanks goes to everyone who has supported this project,
especially Lisa Suhair Majaj and T. J. Anderson III.
Thanks also goes to Alyssa Antonelli and Amelia Boldaji. Their dedication and
attention to detail helped us to bring this book to life.
Our appreciation goes to the University of Arkansas Press, especially Larry
Malley, for his encouragement and belief in the importance of this book.
Credits
"My Elizabeth," by Diana Abu-Jaber, was originally published in the Kenyon Review
17 (Winter 1995).
"And What Else" and "News from Phoenix" copyright 1990 by Joseph Geha.
Reprinted from Through and Through with the permission of Graywolf Press,
Saint Paul, Minnesota.
"Stage Directions for an Extended Conversation," by Yussef El Guindi, was originally
published in Mizna 3.3 (2001).
"Fire and Sand" copyright 2003 by Laila Halaby. Reprinted from West of the Jordan
by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.
"Edge of Rock," by May Mansoor Munn, was originally published in Ms. 3 (October
1992).
"The American Way" and "The Hike to Heart Rock" copyright 2000 by Frances
Khirallah Noble. Reprinted from The Situe Stories with the permission of
Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, New York.
"Oh, Lebanon," by Evelyn Shakir, was originally published in Flyway 7 (Fall/Winter
2002).
"How We Are Bound," by Patricia Sarrafian Ward, was originally published in
Ararat (Autumn 1996).
"Arabic Lessons," by David Williams, was originally published in Flyway 7
(Fall/Winter 2002).
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE