A book censor is on the look-out for objectionable content; a daughter
mourns her father during her journey to fulfill his final wishes; a
desperate man runs around a city to pay off his debts. Critical of
regimes and nonetheless nostalgic for their home countries, Mo(a)t is
a compendium of stories from six different authors reflecting on the
paradoxical demands of our day-to-day lives. Each story is written with
the author's unique style, highlighting their skills in contemporary
Arabic literature.
What binds the stories of Mo(a)t together is the fact that they are
transnational. The stories in this anthology are not centered around a
theme, but rather, a concept. Each author lives outside their birth
country -- whether by choice or exile -- yet, as writers, they've chosen
to continue to express themselves in their mother tongue, rather than in
the language of their adopted countries. From South Sudan to the Western
Sahara, the authors in this collection reveal the symbiotic relationship
between ourselves and our communities, and the freedom to step beyond
these boundaries.
