Alice Guthrie is an independent translator, editor, and curator specialising in contemporary Arabic writing. Widely published since 2008, her work has often focused on subaltern voices, activist art and queerness (winning her the Jules Chametzky Translation Prize 2019). Her bilingual editorial and research work has been part of the movement to decolonise Arabic-English literary translation, as well as its evaluation and publication. As a commissioning editor she is currently compiling Sabah El Meem, the first ever anthology of LGBTQIA+ Arabic writing, set to appear in parallel Arabic and English editions. From 2015-2019 she programmed the literary strand of London’s biennale Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture, and has curated queer Arab arts events for Edinburgh International Book Fair, Outburst International Queer Arts Festival and Arts Canteen. Her forthcoming translations include ‘Blood Feast: The Complete Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf, and ‘A Last Breath Before It All Ends’ by Hisham Bustani. She teaches Arabic-English translation at the University of Birmingham and the University of Exeter, and is based in Bristol, UK.

Alice Guthrie, Translator

The Isle of Males (2014)