Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

about the authors & works

Ibrahim al-Koni Ibrahim al-Koni (born in Libya, 1948) is a prolific Arabic novelist, born to a nomadic Saharan family. His first language is Tamasheq, he grew up as a Tuareg and remains a prime authority on Tuareg culture and folklore, which is very influential on his writing. He was educated in Moscow and Switzerland, and presently lives in Spain. Al-Koni has written more than eighty volumes in Arabic language. The Scarecrow is the last of three volumes from his New Waw trilogy, depicting the founding, flourishing, and decline, in greed and corruption, of a Saharan oasis. Although chronological, plot is not central to this story, freely mixing spiritual with temporal reality – so the trilogy can be read in any order. The book opens with a forum of conspirators who have assassinated a community leader and are trying to elect a new leader. This work is not yet available in book form in English. Translated from Arabic by William M. Hutchins.

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