Year of publication: 2019

Whoever believed that the Arabic short story is dying must radically reconsider their belief! For those seeking proof to the contrary, one need only browse the ten selected short stories in this joint publication, which represents the culmination of the pioneering competition launched by Fadaat Publishing in collaboration with the brilliant Chinese project, 'Those Stories'.

I do not wish to detail the vast number of stories received by the competition's jury, which I have the honor of chairing, nor the total number of followers who voted for the nominated stories, nor the immense challenges faced by my esteemed fellow judges as they reviewed the texts time and again, hoping to capture the distinctive features of each story. Instead, I want to move beyond these significant facts to discuss the outcome of this long and arduous creative and critical workshop: ten stories that encapsulate the vibrant spectrum of the modern Arabic short story scene. It is a rich landscape, full of distinction and specificity in its narrative techniques, linguistic condensation, content, symbolism, and themes. These stories blend modernity with post-modernity, realism with the absurd, description with poetry, and rationality with a sarcastic existential sense.

Lest we exaggerate, we must acknowledge that most of the stories contain the minor flaws of early works, which we chose to preserve to avoid misrepresenting their true level. Nevertheless, we are confident that this pioneering collection will become a landmark in the years to come, a starting point for many scholars to trace the paths of these young Arab short story writers. We extend our sincere wishes to all of them for continued motivation, creativity, and brilliance.

By Dr. Ghassan Ismail Abdel Khaleq