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Roger Allen

In June 2011 Roger Allen retired from his position as the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also served as Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.  He served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) for the year 2009-2010. He is Honorary President of the Banipal Trust and Sub-editor of the Encyclopedia of Islam 3rd edition for modern Arabic literature. He is a 2020 winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Shaikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (Qatar).

Among his numerous published studies on Arabic literature are: The Arabic Novel: an historical and critical introduction(2nd edition 1995, 2nd Arabic edition 1998), and The Arabic Literary Heritage in 1998 (and in abbreviated paperback form in 2000, as Introduction to Arabic Literature; Arabic translation, Cairo, 2003).

He has translated a number of fictional works by modern Arab writers, including the Egyptian Nobel Laureate, Naguib Mahfouz: a collection of short stories, God’s World (1973), and the novels, Autumn Quail, Mirrors, Karnak Café, Khan al-Khalili, and One Hour Left.  He has also translated novels and short stories by a number of other Arab authors, including Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Yusuf Idris, `Abd al-rahman Munif, Mayy Telmissany, Halim Barakat, BenSalim Himmich, Ahmad al-Tawfiq, and Hanan al-Shaykh.

Since retirement, he has published a number of translations: the first complete edition of the original episodes of Muhammad al-Muwaylihi’s Hadith `Isa ibn Hisham (What `Isa ibn Hisham Told Us, 2 vols., [Library of Arabic Literature series], New York: New York University Press, 2015); a novel (The Elusive Fox) and short-story collection (Monarch of the Square) by the Moroccan author, Muhammad Zifzaf (with Mbarek Sryfi); `Abd al-karim Ghallab’s novel, Dafan-na al-madi (We Have Buried the Past, London: Haus Publishing, 2018); Naguib Mahfouz’s newly discovered collection of narratives (untitled in the original, The Quarter, London: Saqi Books, 2019); and Ameen Rihani’s travelogue, The Heart of Lebanon (Syracuse University Press, 2021),.  Currently in press are two other historical novels by Reem Bassiouney, Sons of the People (Syracuse University Press), and Al-Qata’i` (Georgetown University Press).

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Roger Allen

In June 2011 Roger Allen retired from his position as the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also served as Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.  He served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) for the year 2009-2010. He is Honorary President of the Banipal Trust and Sub-editor of the Encyclopedia of Islam 3rd edition for modern Arabic literature. He is a 2020 winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Shaikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (Qatar).

Among his numerous published studies on Arabic literature are: The Arabic Novel: an historical and critical introduction(2nd edition 1995, 2nd Arabic edition 1998), and The Arabic Literary Heritage in 1998 (and in abbreviated paperback form in 2000, as Introduction to Arabic Literature; Arabic translation, Cairo, 2003).

He has translated a number of fictional works by modern Arab writers, including the Egyptian Nobel Laureate, Naguib Mahfouz: a collection of short stories, God’s World (1973), and the novels, Autumn Quail, Mirrors, Karnak Café, Khan al-Khalili, and One Hour Left.  He has also translated novels and short stories by a number of other Arab authors, including Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Yusuf Idris, `Abd al-rahman Munif, Mayy Telmissany, Halim Barakat, BenSalim Himmich, Ahmad al-Tawfiq, and Hanan al-Shaykh.

Since retirement, he has published a number of translations: the first complete edition of the original episodes of Muhammad al-Muwaylihi’s Hadith `Isa ibn Hisham (What `Isa ibn Hisham Told Us, 2 vols., [Library of Arabic Literature series], New York: New York University Press, 2015); a novel (The Elusive Fox) and short-story collection (Monarch of the Square) by the Moroccan author, Muhammad Zifzaf (with Mbarek Sryfi); `Abd al-karim Ghallab’s novel, Dafan-na al-madi (We Have Buried the Past, London: Haus Publishing, 2018); Naguib Mahfouz’s newly discovered collection of narratives (untitled in the original, The Quarter, London: Saqi Books, 2019); and Ameen Rihani’s travelogue, The Heart of Lebanon (Syracuse University Press, 2021),.  Currently in press are two other historical novels by Reem Bassiouney, Sons of the People (Syracuse University Press), and Al-Qata’i` (Georgetown University Press).

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