RACHA MOURTADA | AUTHOR

RACHA MOURTADA | AUTHORRACHA MOURTADA | AUTHORRACHA MOURTADA | AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Publications
  • Luqoom
  • More
    • Home
    • About Me
    • Publications
    • Luqoom

RACHA MOURTADA | AUTHOR

RACHA MOURTADA | AUTHORRACHA MOURTADA | AUTHORRACHA MOURTADA | AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Publications
  • Luqoom

I'll Love You from Afar - Going Global!

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

Learn more

German Edition - published by ars Edition

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

Learn more

U.S. Edition - published by HarperCollins Kids

Australian Edition - published by Affirm Press

U.S. Edition - published by HarperCollins Kids

Learn more

Selected Articles

Racha Mourtada, ses livres sont des Luqoom

L'Orient Le Jour - November 26, 2020


Review can be found here. English translation 


Illustration by Sasha Haddad from Luqoom book, "I'll Love You from Afar"

After the Dust Has Settled

  A piece for Annahar English on the August 4 blast in Beirut - published September 2020

It’s been over a month, and the blast has sunk into our skin, permeated our pores, crawled into the corner, an uninvited guest we mindlessly feed our stale grief.

It is a multi-layered thing: the cataclysmic explosion, its searing aftermath, muscle memory triggered by the pop of a balloon at a birthday gathering that was meant to evoke some semblance of normalcy. It is an efficient executioner: three or four cozily co-habiting generations felled under each roof, family histories and homes telescoping and collapsing into the dirt.

It is the residue of thousands of hearts splintered, hundreds of bones broken, dust we still find in dark corners of rooms we thought the reverberations hadn’t reached. Fine, powdery glass glinting on the sidewalk, ground into the asphalt by people desperate to keep up the pretense of going about their lives. It is the indignity of trees that have bowed down, violently shedding their leaves, disowning summer.

It is the dichotomy, the duality, the unholy mirroring of teenagers dug up from  beneath rubble their classmates scoop up with shiny new shovels. Of wounded doctors treating the wounded masses. Of teary-eyed residents telling their stories to teary-eyed journalists. Of people trying to start new lives amidst death, babies born under scattered debris, wedding dresses fluttering like white flags of submission. It is volunteers surging through blood-spattered neighborhoods like blood re-oxygenating  atrophied limbs.

It is the atrocity, the avoidability of it all, the apathy that rings louder in its murderous indifference than the explosion that decimated half a city. It is the altruism of strangers, the heroism of neighbors lifting each other up onto broken backs and shoulders when they have been so brutally let down.

It resonates, the relentless echo of horrors counted and recounted in infinite patterns, yet everyone looks the same in their grief, their rage, their helplessness,   their stoicism. It revisits, a shadow across each sunset, a breath involuntarily caught  at 6:08 every evening.

It is one heart, one month on, still beating, faintly flickering under the wreckage, a testament to a collective spirit that will not be broken.

One of my favourite bars in Gemmayze, Electric Bing Sutt, 8/8/2020. Photo credit: Racha Mourtada

"The day their love died, so did an unsuspecting duck..."

55 slightly sinister stories - cover
Published by Andrews McMeel Universal and Simon and Schuster

55 slightly sinister stories Out now!

Size does matter in these tiny tales populated with narcoleptic drivers, bickering backers, suspicious spouses, and other memorable characters. 


Full of dark humor and absurdity, this book delivers a bite-size reading experience to satisfy any literary craving.

----

Hardback

5x7 in

ISBN: 9781524858797

128 pages

June 2nd, 2020

Find out more

Reviews

I loved it. Short stories are not something I ever read but...

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

I absolutely loved everything about this sinister little book of short stories.

I am happy I took the opportunity to read these. They all leave you wanting more, yet they are neatly tied up in a 55 word bundle. They're a little dark, a little weird and a lot of fun. 





 - Jenni on Goodreads

I absolutely loved everything about this sinister little book of short stories.

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

I absolutely loved everything about this sinister little book of short stories.

Each story is 55 words or less, and frankly that is the perfect amount to tease your brain into wanting more, yet being satisfied that you just read a perfect story with no unnecessary filler, no lulls in development, or anything else you can think of. Only perfection. Well, slight lie-I wanted more stories!


 -Ginny on Goodreads

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

 at the same time making sure that it does not lose its poignancy. Each story in 55 Slightly Sinister Stories is only 55 words long, yet the stories are still amusing, inspiring and thought provoking. This is a mighty task to accomplish in just 1 or 2 short paragraphs.


 -Kylie on Goodreads

This was fantastic!

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

The author has outdone herself in narrowing down a story to its essential idea...

 It reminded me of something by Alvin Schwartz. Super odd and only a little sinister - just the way I like things.






 -Michelle on Goodreads

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

 I'm already thinking of ways I can incorporate it into a lesson to demonstrate to my students that imaginative writing needn't be lengthy or a full blown narrative. Well done, Racha!



 -Paige on Goodreads

I loved this collection of quirky flash fiction ...

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

This microfiction collection was brilliantly written and a pleasure to read!

where each story is only 55 words long and accompanied by a themed illustration. The stories range in tone from light-hearted to dark, and despite their brevity make you ponder and think. They've inspired me to have a go at some micro-fiction myself!


 -Jen on Goodreads

Media

"55 slightly sinister stories” by Racha Mourtada

Annahar English - June 2nd, 2020


Today marks the day Andrews McMeel Publishing will be releasing its edition of ‘55 slightly sinister stories’ by Lebanese author Racha Mourtada.

In this issue of Carpe Diem, and with permission from the original publishing house, five of the stories included in Mourtada’s book will be shared with the section’s readers, as a sneak peek into the world this talented Lebanese author has designed within the pages of her writing. more

Book Trailer

About Me

Racha Mourtada reading in front of Mt. Kilimanjaro

A  researcher and public policy analyst turned author, children's book publisher and trekking enthusiast.

Full Bio

Publications

Lucky Duck illustration

Books & Short Stories

Books & Short Stories

Books & Short Stories

Racha Mourtada trekking Mont Blanc

Travel/Culture

Books & Short Stories

Books & Short Stories

Academic

Books & Short Stories

Academic

Connect

racha@rachamourtada.com

Copyright © 2020 Racha Mourtada - All Rights Reserved.