Kuwait mourns novelist Ismail Fahad Ismail

Ismail belonged to Arab World creative generation of writers

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 25, (KUNA): Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri expressed his condolences over the death of Kuwaiti writer and novelist Ismail Fahd Ismail who passed away at the age of 78 on Tuesday.

Al-Jabri, who is also the chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters Chairman said in a press statement, that Ismail belonged to the Arab World creative generation of writers.

Al-Jabri added “it is a great loss for Kuwait and Arab Gulf state literary community and an example of diligence, perseverance and creativity.

Ismail is a pioneer Kuwaiti novelist. He has won several prestigious cultural awards, including the State Encouragement and Merit Awards and the Sultan Al Owais Award.

He was also shortlisted for the Poker Prize for Arabic Fiction and the Sheikh Zayed Award.

Among his most notable works are “The Drawbacks”, “The Sky was Blue”, “In the Presence of the Phoenix and the Honest Friend”.

Ismail Fahad Ismail was considered by his Kuwaiti counterparts as as a novelist who does not hesitate to employ new language, sentence structures and dialogues.

Ismail writes every novel with a new spirit – risking losing readers whom he gained from his previous an endeavor to lure new segment of novel lovers.

Ismail was born in 1940, he has worked as a full-time writer since 1985. He graduated with a BA in Literature and Criticism from the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts, Kuwait, and has worked as both a teacher and in the administration of educational resources. Ismail was acclaimed as the finest and most prolific writer in the history of Kuwait, as he wrote over twenty novels and numerous short story collections and publications.

Last February in “Monday Talks” seminar, held at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Center, Ismail described himself as a “universal citizen” who lived in Iraq, Kuwait and the Philippines and whose novels are detailing events in Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq.