Fear in the Middle of a Vast Field and Other Stories

Short stories by a celebrated playwright bare the horrors of the Syrian civil war.

A selection of stories by Syrian author and playwright Mustafa Taj Aldeen Almosa about characters enduring the horrors of the Syrian civil war. With exquisite wit and lightness of touch, Almosa portrays the internal world of characters facing great physical violence or psychological pressures. Using both realism and fantastic elements, Almosa weaves short stories that are strange, violent, and delicate at the same time. This collection is an invaluable attempt to denounce war, to exist, to love life in all its manifestations and to learn how to cope with loss and disappointment. It is a cry against fear and death as much as it is an ode and a homage to life and love in times of both war and peace.

Mustafa Taj Aldeen Almosa has published six collections of short stories and four plays that have won prestigious literary prizes in Syria and the Arab world. Several of his short stories have been translated into many European languages as well as Turkish, Japanese, Persian, and Kurdish.

Maisaa Tanjour is a freelance translator, researcher, and interpreter. She has an MA in Interpreting and Translation Studies, and a PhD in Translation Studies.

Alice Holttum is a part-time freelance translator and translation proofreader. She has a Joint Honors BA in Russian and Arabic and an MA in Applied Translation Studies (Arabic-English), both from the University of Leeds.