“The Doll with the Purple Scarf”—flash fiction from Diaa Jubaili
Iraqi novelist Diaa Jubaili's short story, translated by Chip Rossetti, portrays dolls as unlikely victims of life under the Islamic State.
Diaa Jubaili
Diaa Jubaili was born in 1977 in Basra, Iraq, where he still lives. He is the author of eight novels, including La’nat Markiz [The Curse of Marquez] (Isdarat Ittihad al-Udaba’ wa-l-Kuttab fi-l-Basrah., 2007), which won the Dubai Magazine Award, and three short story collections, including Madha Nafal Bidun Kalfinu [What Will We Do without Calvino?] (Dar Madarik li-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi’, 2016) — winner of the Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing. His collection No Windmills in Basra (Deep Vellum, 2022) was translated into English by Chip Rossetti; it won the Almultaqa Prize for the Short Story. Jubaili was a contributor to the short story collection Iraq +100 (Comma Press, 2016). His writing has appeared in The Guardian.
Chip Rossetti’s published translations include the novel Beirut, Beirut by Sonallah Ibrahim; the short story collection Animals in Our Days by Mohamed Makhzangi; Utopia by Ahmed Khaled Tawfik; and No Windmills in Basra, by Diaa Jubaili. His translations have also appeared in Asymptote, The White Review, Banipal, and Words without Borders. He has a Ph.D. in modern Arabic literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in book publishing for over 20 years. He is currently the Editorial Director for the Library of Arabic Literature series published by New York University Press.