Shawkat M. Toorawa’s scholarly interests include: classical and medieval Arabic literature, especially the literary and writerly culture of Abbasid Baghdad; the Qur’an, in particular hapaxes, rhyme-words, and translation; the Waqwaq Tree and islands; Indian Ocean studies, particularly Creole literatures of Mauritius and the Mascarenes; modern poetry; translation; and SF film and literature.
His books include Interpreting the Self, a study co-authored with the academic alliance RRAALL on autobiography in the Arabic literary tradition; a study of the ninth-century Baghdad bookman Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur; a critical edition and translation of a collection of long poems by the Syro-Lebanese poet, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber); a reference work on Arabic literary culture from the 6th–10th centuries AD, co-edited with Michael Cooperson; an edited collection of essays on the islands and islanders of the western Indian Ocean; an edited anthology of poetry about New York City; and a critical edition and collaborative translation with the editors of the Library of Arabic Literature of a 12th century work by the historian Ibn al-Sa’i. A book of translations of selected surahs and passages from the Qur’an is forthcoming from Yale University Press, and an edited collection on the literary dimensions of the Qur’an is forthcoming from Edinburgh University Press.
He is a Director of the School of Abbasid Studies; a series editor of Resources in Arabic and Islamic Studies (Lockwood Press); is on the editorial or advisory boards of several journals, including the Journal of Abbasid Studies, Journal of Arabic Literature, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, Middle Eastern Literatures, and Quaderni di Studi Arabi; and is an executive editor of the Library of Arabic Literature, an initiative to edit and translate the premodern Arabic literary heritage.
