π πΈπΎ #50: Stories of displacement from Syria
A short story collection by Dima Alzayat
Welcome to Bookmarked, a weekly newsletter following my journey as I read one book from every country. If youβve found your way here from Book Riot, welcome! If you like the sound of my project, Iβd love it if you shared Bookmarked with a friend.
Dima Alzayatβs debut collection, Alligator & Other Stories, comprises nine short stories that focus on themes of social injustice, racial violence, and global migration. Many of Alzayatβs stories are based on real life events and most of them centre around characters who, in one way or another, find themselves on the outside: a young woman navigating sexual harassment in the workplace; a religious man reckoning with his sexuality; a Syrian family losing its name.
The collectionβs titular story, Alligator, is exceptional. Taking the true story of an immigrant couple from Syria who were lynched in Florida in 1929 as its launch pad, the story collages historical records, newspaper clippings, and witness statements before imagining the futures of the victimsβ children as they are rehomed and assimilated, thus erasing their Syrian identity. Itβs a stylistically complicated story, which contextualises the lynching with violence experienced by the Seminole people and the Black community.
Another story based on real life events is Disappearance. Starting with the 1979 disappearance of six-year-old Etan Patz, Alzayat explores how it felt to be a child cooped up indoors during a hot summer in which parents were too afraid to let their children play out. Other highlights of the collection include Daughters of ManΔt, in which a woman is assaulted, only for the abuser to get off with community service because the district attorney and judge cannot agree on how to classify the crime (βDomestic battery demanded an intimate relationship. What constituted intimacy?β) and Only Those Who Struggle Succeed, in which an intern tries to climb the corporate ladder of a film production company at the same time as being propositioned by her boss.
Alzayat is particularly good at representing childrenβs perspectives. In A Girl In Three Acts, a Syrian girl in America is passed between foster homes and families in the aftermath of her fatherβs death. And in Once We Were Syrians, an aunt responds to her grand-nieceβs school report on the Syrian Civil War: βThere used to be a time when our names mattered,β she says, βwhen being Syrian meant something else.β The story opens with the auntβs monologue and closes with the school report she is responding to.
I was particularly taken by the range of this collection: Alzayatβs prose changes with each story. Had I come across these stories individually, in magazines and journals, I doubt Iβd have realised theyβre written by the same author. So much of this book is brilliantβon racism, intergenerational trauma, displacement. Iβm looking forward to reading more from Alzayat.
Alligator & Other Stories by Dima Alzayat (Picador, 2020)
More books by Syrian authors:
Hereβs a list of other books that were recommended to me this week:
The Crane by Halim Barakat, tr. Bassam Frangieh and Roger Allen
Sabriya: Damascus Bitter Sweet by Ulfat Idilbi, tr. Peter Clark
Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa, tr. Leri Price
Sun on a Cloudy Day by Hanna Mina, tr. Bassam K. Frangieh
Farewell, Damascus by Ghada Samman, tr. Nancy Roberts
The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami, tr. Anthea Bell
The Frightened Ones byΒ Dima Wannous,Β tr. Elisabeth Jaquette
What have you read recently?
If youβve read a brilliant book in translation or youβd like to pass on a recommendation, Iβd love to hear about it! For this project, Iβm focussing on contemporary fiction and short stories, with a preference for female authorsβbut Iβm always happy to venture further afield for a good recommendation.
You can get in touch by replying to this email or leaving a comment. Iβll be featuring your recommendations in upcoming newsletters, and Iβll keep a growing listΒ here.
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