Mahmoud or the Rising of the Waters
Will be published approx. on 29. October 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
96 pages
978-1-917254-36-6 (ISBN)
Description
By night, poet and teacher Mahmoud Elmachi camps on the shores of a vast reservoir in the desert. Around him a savage war rages but each day he puts on his fins and snorkle, and dives deep into the water in search of his memories.
Some refer to Mahmoud as the "old madman", others call him the "old sage". What becomes clear in the murky depths is that with each descent into the lake, his story reveals a gathering of treasures and loss-precious conversations, exquisite love. From inner depths he has found the courage to face down an authoritarian regime with the power of his writing, the force of non-violence.
Some refer to Mahmoud as the "old madman", others call him the "old sage". What becomes clear in the murky depths is that with each descent into the lake, his story reveals a gathering of treasures and loss-precious conversations, exquisite love. From inner depths he has found the courage to face down an authoritarian regime with the power of his writing, the force of non-violence.
Reviews / Votes
"A sumptuous novel in free verse that reaffirms the power of language to describe Evil. All Wauters' art is about leading this dive without haste. He opposes the acceleration of horror, the precipitation of the worst, with the patient monologue of a man who with his voice alone manages to cobble together a shelter, in the midst of chaos, for life." -Jean Birnbaum, Monde des livres"A very beautiful book-a very great book-devastating in its beauty and poetry."-Madame Figaro
Wauters' writing is "one of the most remarkable in literature."-Lire magazine
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-917254-36-6 (9781917254366)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Antoine Wauters is a Belgian poet and novelist, winner of more than fifteen literary awards. One of the brightest stars in French literature, his writing has received broad critical praise for its stylistic range and for his ability to capture the zeitgeist. The Museum of Contradictions won the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle and was his first book to be published in English (Selkies House, 2025). Mahmoud or the Rising of the Waters won the Prix du Livre Inter, the Prix Wepler, and the Prix Marguerite Duras. Wauters lives near Theux, Belgium.
Stephanie Smee's translations of contemporary classics have won critical praise and multiple awards. She is the translator of Joseph Ponthus' award-winning novel in verse, "On The Line, Notes from a Factory", for which she won the Australian Academy of the Humanities Medal of Excellence in Translation. Her translation of Hannelore Cayre's "The Godmother" won the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger. She is the winner of the JQ-Wingate Prize for Francoise Frenkel's "No Place to Lay One's Head". Smee lives in Sydney, Australia.
Stephanie Smee's translations of contemporary classics have won critical praise and multiple awards. She is the translator of Joseph Ponthus' award-winning novel in verse, "On The Line, Notes from a Factory", for which she won the Australian Academy of the Humanities Medal of Excellence in Translation. Her translation of Hannelore Cayre's "The Godmother" won the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger. She is the winner of the JQ-Wingate Prize for Francoise Frenkel's "No Place to Lay One's Head". Smee lives in Sydney, Australia.