alex tan

(they/them) writer; translator arabic~english; contributing editor @ asymptote; editorial fellow @ words without borders

About Me
About Me

translations

Holy Illiteracy by Yassin Adnan
Holy Illiteracy by Yassin Adnan
Gaza Translates the World by Huda Fakhreddine
Gaza Translates the World by Huda Fakhreddine
To Gaza: a Conversation with Nasser Rabah
To Gaza: a Conversation with Nasser Rabah

reviews

Out on a Limb: On Ghayath Almadhoun's I Have Brought You a Severed Hand
Out on a Limb: On Ghayath Almadhoun's I Have Brought You a Severed Hand
Unconscious Spells: on Mansoura Ez Eldin's The Orchards of Basra
Unconscious Spells: on Mansoura Ez Eldin's The Orchards of Basra
No Place to Be: on Wadih Saadeh’s A Horse at the Door
No Place to Be: on Wadih Saadeh’s A Horse at the Door
Life Without Breathing: on Nguyễn Ngọc Tư's Water: A Chronicle
Life Without Breathing: on Nguyễn Ngọc Tư's Water: A Chronicle
Where Freedom Lies: on Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s Samahani
Where Freedom Lies: on Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s Samahani
All That Rage: on Egypt +100
All That Rage: on Egypt +100
On Yoko Tawada's Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel (with Xiao Yue Shan)
On Yoko Tawada's Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel (with Xiao Yue Shan)
On Samar Yazbek's Where the Wind Calls Home
On Samar Yazbek's Where the Wind Calls Home
A Self Remaindered: on Iman Mersal’s Traces of Enayat
A Self Remaindered: on Iman Mersal’s Traces of Enayat
From Silly to Deadly: on Shalash the Iraqi
From Silly to Deadly: on Shalash the Iraqi
On Iman Mersal's The Threshold
On Iman Mersal's The Threshold
Unexpired Bodies: on Malika Moustadraf’s Blood Feast
Unexpired Bodies: on Malika Moustadraf’s Blood Feast
On Hassouna Mosbahi's Solitaire
On Hassouna Mosbahi's Solitaire
How the Light Hides Us: on Cuíer Queer Brazil
How the Light Hides Us: on Cuíer Queer Brazil
On Charif Majdalani's Beirut 2020
On Charif Majdalani's Beirut 2020

essays; flights

Notes on the Third Person, or the Absent One
Notes on the Third Person, or the Absent One
City Addresses: Iman Mersal’s Rihla through a Dis(-)appearing Cairo
City Addresses: Iman Mersal’s Rihla through a Dis(-)appearing Cairo
Sounds Like Fiction: on Rereading Adania Shibli's Minor Detail
Sounds Like Fiction: on Rereading Adania Shibli's Minor Detail
Salvation Written Elsewhere: on Mohamed Choukri and Abdellah Taïa (#2)
Salvation Written Elsewhere: on Mohamed Choukri and Abdellah Taïa (#2)
Languages of Silence: on Mohamed Choukri and Abdellah Taïa (#1)
Languages of Silence: on Mohamed Choukri and Abdellah Taïa (#1)
Here France Drowns Algerians: on October 17, 1961’s Occulted Pogrom
Here France Drowns Algerians: on October 17, 1961’s Occulted Pogrom

correspondences; crossings

Fissure from Within: with Iman Mersal, author of Motherhood and Its Ghosts
Fissure from Within: with Iman Mersal, author of Motherhood and Its Ghosts
Rock and Flower: with Robin Moger, translator of Arabic literature
Rock and Flower: with Robin Moger, translator of Arabic literature
Our Own Chronic Genre: with Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng, translator of Nguyễn Thanh Hiện
Our Own Chronic Genre: with Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng, translator of Nguyễn Thanh Hiện
Scream of Freedom: with Samar Yazbek and Leri Price, writer & translator
Scream of Freedom: with Samar Yazbek and Leri Price, writer & translator
Upending Literary Hierarchies: with kotobli, SWANA book platform
Upending Literary Hierarchies: with kotobli, SWANA book platform
Compound Vision: with Catherine Yu, translator of Wu Ming-Yi
Compound Vision: with Catherine Yu, translator of Wu Ming-Yi
A Guest of its Originality: with Ghazouane Arslane, translator of Abdelfattah Kilito
A Guest of its Originality: with Ghazouane Arslane, translator of Abdelfattah Kilito
Ambrosial Wafts: with A.J. Naddaff, founder of Untranslatable newsletter
Ambrosial Wafts: with A.J. Naddaff, founder of Untranslatable newsletter

miscellany; ephemera

On Abu Zayd al-Ansari's The Book of Rain
On Abu Zayd al-Ansari's The Book of Rain
Fiction’s Futurability: a Conversation with Mohamed Abdelkarim, Visual Artist
Fiction’s Futurability: a Conversation with Mohamed Abdelkarim, Visual Artist
On Shuang Xuetao's Hunter
On Shuang Xuetao's Hunter
On Mai Ishizawa's The Place of Shells
On Mai Ishizawa's The Place of Shells
On Lawrence Abu Hamdan's Live Audio Essays
On Lawrence Abu Hamdan's Live Audio Essays
On Trace Press's Arabic, Between Love and War
On Trace Press's Arabic, Between Love and War
To Keep That Wrongness: Adania Shibli on Minor Detail @ McNally Jackson
To Keep That Wrongness: Adania Shibli on Minor Detail @ McNally Jackson
On Bothayna al-Essa's The Book Censor's Library
On Bothayna al-Essa's The Book Censor's Library
On Amjad Nasser's Land of No Rain
On Amjad Nasser's Land of No Rain

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