In this episode, Anna talks to Kareem Abdulrahman about his translation of The Last Pomegranate Tree (Archipelago Books) by Bachtyar Ali. Based in Germany, Bachtyar has received the Nelly Sachs Prize (2017) and the Hilde-Domin-Prize (2023). Kareem’s translation was recently shortlisted for the 2023 National Books Critics Circle Award. Kareem tells us about producing the first-ever English translation of a Kurdish novel, finding the universal in Bachtyar’s prose, and his experience of the Kurdish comedy scene.
Kareem Abdulrahman on The Last Pomegranate Tree by Bachtyar Ali