Joumana Haddad, an unrivaled poetry star in Arabic (and many other languages) famous for her deeply passionate poetic visions, has finally given the English-speaking world entry into her luscious work. In these gorgeous translations, her voice remains sumptuous and alluring, carefully drawing the reader in before unveiling soulful insight and wisdom. This is Lebanese-born Joumana Haddad's fifth collection of poetry to be published. She is highly regarded as a poet not only throughout the Arab-speaking world, but also in Europe and Latin America. She has a strong presence on the Internet and has her own Internet fan club. She is currently a literary journalist for the daily Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar,

"He is not Santa Claus, and it isnt the North Pole. Its something far more mystical and grand. On a warm December evening in 1937, thirteen-year-old New Zealander Mannie seeks a kiss from lovely Olivia Murney, and a chance to spend time with his vivacious Aunt Audra. Even the vexing presence of nine-year-old nuisance Clive doesnt detract from the splendor of the occasion. But after a devastating family loss, Mannie discovers a world he never expected amid the fields and forests. He will soon enter a hidden passage to Very North, a distant palace buried in snow and steeped in mystery. He will meet the wise sorcerer Father Christmas, and his life will be forever changed. This unusual fantasy reveals hitherto unknown secrets about the powerful spell-caster Mother Solstice, the conspiracy of the Forest Abduction Brigade, and the proper incantation for the Seventh Moss Circle. Brave readers will uncover answers once known to just a privileged few. Make your way to the center of the labyrinth, to the surprising truth of Very North, and find joy in the face of despair.

The Spring Feasts rehearse the Engagement and the Fall Feast are a rehearsal of the Wedding. We should approach our celebration of these Moedim from that standpoint. If we do, not only will we please Yahuah, but we will mature from the milk of the Word to the meat of it. In the process, we will fulfill “the letter” and properly prepare ourselves as the Bride; and have our candles lit when Yahusha returns to receive us unto himself. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:7 that Sha’ul mention “predestined before the ages to our glory”! We are going to go back to the very beginning, before the Feasts of Yahuah were given orally to Adam and before they were written down in detailed instructions in The Mosaic Covenant. Why? Because now, in The Yahushaic Covenant, they have found their ultimate meaning Spiritually; meaning which was ordained before the foundation of the world and predestined before the ages, as Sha’ul stated.

‘Beirut39’ is a Hay Festival project which aims to select and celebrate 39 of the best young Arab writers as a centrepiece of the Beirut World Capital festivities in April 2010. Following the successful launch of ‘Bogotá 39’, which identified many of the most interesting upcoming Latin American talents, including Wendy Guerra, Junot Diaz (Pulitzer Prize), Santiago Roncagliolo and Juan Gabriel Vásquez (short-listed for the IFFP), ‘Beirut 39’ will bring to worldwide attention the best work from the Arab world. The judges will select from more than 300 submissions and the writers’ names will be unveiled in September 2009. The book will be published in English throughout the world (except the Arab world) by Bloomsbury, and in Arabic throughout the world and in English in the Arab World by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.

In the political unrest that swept across the Arab region in 2011, all eyes were on the streets and squares erupting in protest. But for the past four years, Shereen El Feki has been looking at upheaval a little closer to home -- in the sexual lives of men and women across the Arab world. The result is Sex and the Citadel, an informative, insightful and engaging account of a highly sensitive and still largely secret aspect of Arab society. Sex might seem a strange lens with which to examine change in the Arab world; it is, in fact, a prism with which to refract the region's complex social spectrum. Sexual attitudes and behaviours are intimately bound up in religion, culture, politics and economics. As such, they are not only a reflection of the conditions that led to the recent uprisings, as well as one of the engines of revolt, but will also be a measure of hard-won reforms in the years to come. Sex and the Citadel is no peep show. By linking sexuality to political, economic, social and religious trends, it opens a window on the greater landscape of the Arab world, both for readers new to the region whose interest has been sparked by recent events, and for old hands familiar with the Arab world. Nor is the book an academic treatise: this is a highly personal account, rich with original research and first-person stories, that gives us unprecedented and timely insight into a part of the world that is transforming in front of our very eyes.

‘Madinah’ – the Arabic word for ‘city’ – may conjure labyrinthine streets and the hustle and bustle of the souq in Westerners’ minds, but for the inhabitants of the Middle East it is a much more mercurial thing, and one that’s changing today faster than ever. Here – in ten urban stories set across the region – the city reveals itself through a vibrant array of characters: from the celebrated author collecting an award in the city that exiled him decades before, to the forlorn lover waiting at a rendezvous as government officials raid nearby shops, confiscating ‘wanton’ Valentine’s Day roses. Whilst engineers race to complete another ‘world’s tallest building’ in Dubai, and American helicopters patrol the Martyrs Bridge in Baghdad, we realise it is the people, and not the landmarks, that define these places; like the language student in Beirut who tries to make a joke of being ‘war-broken’ to her friends, or the Israeli General who invites guests to his office to watch promo videos for the tank that will ‘win the next war’ whilst eating biscuits and reciting poetry. For all we think we know of the conflict and exoticism of the region, nothing opens more doors to what we don’t than its writing. Here, ten short stories by new and established writers have been selected and translated in English for the first time, to open just such a door… "Isolation, homesickness and sex are themes to be expected in literature about cities. It is human for isolated people to experience places intensely and for the displaced to miss home..." - The Times, 22 Nov 08. "The desert cities bloom with unsustainable desire..." - The Independent, 28 Nov 08. 'a sampler of the vibrant writing coming out of the Middle East...' - The Saudi Gazette, 5 Jan.