David Tresilian's Articles

Arabic is becoming more and more popular as a school subject in Europe, but there are still barriers preventing its wider study

This year’s shortlist for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation reveals the variety of the Arabic works now being translated into English

A new book is an essential guide for anyone interested in Cairo’s modern architecture, writes David Tresilian

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram and magazine Al-Hilal were not the only titles founded by Syrian-Lebanese entrepreneurs over 100 years ago, as a look through the archives of the American press reveals, writes David Tresilian

A novel by Egyptian writer Tawfik Al-Hakim is now available in the Penguin Classics series of world literary works in English translation

The Library of Arabic Literature has been making more of its English translations of Arabic literature available in paperback editions

The French government announced an extension of the lockdown intended to slow the spread of Covid-19 in France last week. David Tresilian in Paris looks back on the evolution of the crisis

Though they have millions of readers worldwide, the Tintin books by the Belgian cartoon-book artist Hergé have had a mixed reception in Arabic

Issues such as the uprisings in parts of the Arab world and the state of Franco-Maghreb relations were discussed at this year’s Maghreb des Livres book fair in Paris

Exhibition titled 'Inspired by the East — How the Islamic World influenced Western Art' continues at the British Museum, London, until 26 January.

A new exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris is revealing important archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia to the world for almost the first time, writes David Tresilian

The Third Biennale of Photographers of the Contemporary Arab World has been drawing appreciative audiences to the Institut du Monde arabe in Paris

A major exhibition at the Louvre in Paris has been shedding light on the Hittites, a formidable foe of the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom, writes David Tresilian

English novelist William Golding’s An Egyptian Journal retains its mystery today more than 30 years after it was written, writes David Tresilian in an occasional series on books by visitors to Egypt

Incomplete as history and questionable as a guide, English novelist E M Forster’s handbook on Alexandria is an evocation of its time, writes David Tresilian in an occasional series on books by visitors to Egypt

French novelist Gustave Flaubert’s account of his trip up the Nile in 1850 can still intrigue today

The Institute's new branch is set in the town of Tourcoing, part of the Lille conurbation in northern France, on the Belgian border, inside the 1904 edifice which protected the former local swimming pool

Egypt has a long and distinguished postal history but is its potential being realized, asks David Tresilian

The Railway Museum, entirely renovated and reopened to the public in 2017, makes for a pleasurable and thought-provoking visit for train enthusiasts of all ages, writes David Tresilian

James Barr, Lords of the Desert. Britain’s Struggle with America to dominate the Middle East, London: Simon & Schuster, 2018, pp401

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