Designed as a reader for intermediate students of Arabic and those who may wish to broaden their appreciation of leading Middle Eastern writers, this collection features stories in both Arabic and English translation. Prefaced by an author biography plus notes on context and background, each story is followed by a glossary and discussion of problematic language points.

Authors include Naguib Mahfouz, Edwar al-Kharrat, Hanan al-Shaykh, Layla al-Uthman, and Mohamed Choukri.

Ronak Husni is a senior lecturer at Heriot-Watt University, teaching Arabic language, literature, and translation.

Daniel L. Newman is the course director of the MA in Arabic/English Translation at the University of Durham and the author of An Imam in Paris (Saqi Books).