AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
''Bani Adam thinks he's better than us!' they say over and over until finally I shout back, 'Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, I have something to say!'
'They all go quiet and wait for me to explain myself, redeem myself, pull my shirt out, rejoin the pack. I hold their anticipation for three seconds, and then, while they're all ablaze, I say out loud, 'I do think I'm better.'
'Bani Adam is a student at Punchbowl Boys High School, which seems like the arse end of the earth, and the students don't seem to care. The Lebs control the school, and Bani feels at odds - a romantic in a sea of hyper-masculinity.
'Bani must come to terms with his place in a world of hostility and hopelessness - while dreaming of having so much more.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
The Trouble of Middle Eastern Literature
2019
single work
essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , November 2019;Semi-autobiographical: includes the author's account of his life in Australia and his sense of being understood via people's memories of reading accounts of the Middle East.
-
Australian Literature and the Arab-Australian Migrant Novel
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 79 no. 1 2019; (p. 129-148) 'Patrick White’s The Aunt’s Story, published in 1948 and set in the 1930s, is one of the few Australian novels that features an Arab male character. His inclusion gives readers an insight into how an Arab was represented and, by extension, perceived in early- to mid-twentieth century Australia. The Arab in this case is a travelling salesman or a hawker, an occupation adopted by many early male and female migrants from what was then a region in Syria, today known as Lebanon. Hawkers traversed vast tracts of remote Australia peddling an array of wares, and their arrival to a country town or estate like Meroë in The Aunt’s Story, was met with excitement.' (Introduction) -
Grief, Racism and Uncertain Futures: Your Guide to the 2019 Miles Franklin Shortlist
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 30 July 2019;'I think it’s fair to say that each year the selected novels on the Miles Franklin shortlist manifest the zeitgeist, reflecting on some of the issues that are troubling society.' (Introduction)
-
Miles Franklin Shortlist Announced, Including The Lebs Author Michael Mohammed Ahmad
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , July 2019;'Among six books shortlisted for the nation's most prestigious literary prize is Michael Mohammed Ahmad's The Lebs.' (Introduction)
-
The Meaning of 'the Lebs'
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 78 no. 1 2019; (p. 76-81)'Confronting. Controversial. Unrelenting. Edgy. When The Lebs, the second and most recent novel by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, was published a year ago it was amid a flurry of these adjectives from (mostly) white reviewers and interviewers. One descriptor that did not fly so readily from their keyboards, however, was ‘coming of age’.' (Introduction)
-
'The Lebs' by Michael Mohammed Ahmad
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 399 2018; (p. 34)
— Review of The Lebs 2018 single work novel'Bani Adam wants to be a ‘chivalrous poet’ or a great writer. These aspirations make the Lebanese-Australian teenager feel like an outsider at the testosterone-fuelled, anti-intellectual high school that he attends. Until he finishes school, Bani bides his time with a group of mostly Muslim and Lebanese young men. ‘The Lebs’, as they refer to themselves, while away the hours discussing religion and politics, fantasising about or insulting teachers, and forging something like a friendship with one another.' (Introduction)
-
Michael Mohammed Ahmad : The Lebs
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 3-9 March 2018;'The education of the artist, especially if that artist is a young male, is the perennial grass of the literary field: a yearly recurrence, reassuring if often a little dull. Must we really hear again of the sensitive soul who finds himself in a homosocial world without sympathetic allies? Who longs for connection with women without having the first clue about doing so? Whose aesthete’s impulses place him at odds with family, religion or caste?' (Introduction)
-
What Does a ‘Leb’ Look like?
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 20 March 2018; -
I’m with Stupid : The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , May 2018;'In November 2016, Michael Mohammed Ahmad published an essay in the Sydney Review of Books titled ‘Lebs and Punchbowl Prison’. The ‘prison’ in question was his alma mater, Punchbowl Boys High School, and the essay was a reflection on his time as a student there in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, the school was not exactly regarded as a hub of academic excellence, a perception that Ahmad does nothing to dispel. His recollections are a litany of educational dysfunction and outrageous misbehaviour, ranging from adolescent hijinks to acts of violence.' (Introduction)
-
Noted : The Lebs
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , May no. 144 2018; (p. 64)'The opening scenes from The Lebs could be mistaken for speculative fiction, in which ethnic minorities are forced into guarded enclaves, surrounded by high fences and barbed wire, and monitored by surveillance cameras. But Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s second novel is closer to social realism: it is set within the surreal banality of Punchbowl Boys High School in Sydney’s western suburbs and narrated by Bani Adam, a young Lebanese-Australian man struggling to find his place in the world.' (Introduction)
-
Male Identity and the Danger of Preconceived Notions : An Interview with Michael Mohammed Ahmad
Samuel Elliott
(interviewer),
2018
single work
interview
— Appears in: Verity La , May 2018;
Awards
- 2019 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 2019 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Multicultural NSW