São Paulo – Martins Fontes Paulista bookstore hosts on Wednesday (5) a roundtable on books set in the Middle East and North Africa. The books in the spotlight are part of the noir series released in Brazil by Tabla. The publishing house specializes in authors from the region and has given Brazilians access to this literature by translating a series of titles into Brazilian Portuguese.
The roundtable in Martins Fontes Paulista bookstore marks the launch of Teerã noir, organized by Salar Abdo and translated by Adriano Scandolara. Iran, whose capital city is Tehran, is a non-Arab Middle East country. The other three books in the noir series collect short stories set in Arab cities Marrakesh in Morocco, Beirut in Lebanon, and Bagdad in Iraq.
Roundtable on books set in Bagdad, Marrakesh and Beirut
Beirute noir is organized by Iman Humaydan and translated by Pedro Criado, Marraquexe noir is organized by Yassin Adnan and translated by Felipe Benjamin Francisco, and Bagdad noir is organized by Samuel Shimon and translated by Jemima Alves. The roundtable aims to discuss the dark side of these cities through literature, Tabla said. Noir is a French word for dark.
The meeting on Wednesday features Bianca Tavolari, Jemima Alves and Karime Cheaito, and is moderated by Felipe Benjamin. Tavolari is a law professor and researcher. Alves is a translator and PhD student with a focus on post-colonial and Iraqi literature following the United States’ invasion. Karime Cheaito is a researcher who specializes in the Middle East. Benjamin is a researcher, and Arabic translator and teacher, with several book translations in his belt.
Quick facts:
De Marraquexe a Teerã: a face sombria das cidades na literatura noir [From Marrakesh to Tehran: The dark side of the cities in noir literature]
Roundtable – Coleção Noir
June 5, 2024, Wednesday, 7:30pm
Free admission
Second floor of Martins Fontes Paulista bookstore
Av. Paulista, 509 – São Paulo, Brazil
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
