Coastal Lungs

Fifty writers from all over the Arab world came together in this Sharjah anthology "Coastal Lungs - New Writings from the Arab World". This anthology was published in conjunction with the conclusion of Sharjah's celebration for being named the UNESCO's World Book Capital for 2019-2020. The writers accentuate that Arabic literature is still alive and flourishing since its earliest history. The number of candidates for the anthology exceeded five hundred writers from different sources including self-nominations, nominations from critics, famous writers, publishers, editor-in-chief of newspapers and magazines, university professors, and from reading clubs, provided that the candidate is not born before 1980 and has at least one publication. Writers submitted different texts, including short stories and poetry, fiction, travel narratives, free-form writings, and prose. The selected writers were not chosen based on competitive-selection, but rather it was an attempt to showcase the different writing styles. Hence, we find here 50 writers that connect together to draw a star map that will help those interested in traveling in the lands and seas of contemporary Arabic literature.