Palestinian bags Arabic Booker in Abu Dhabi
abu dhabi — The 26th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) opened on Wednesday morning with the sounds of Palestinian lifestyle both under occupation and in exile.
It was not a concert going on at the fair, but a book, written as a concerto, in four parts, which was just announced as the 2016 winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), also known as the Arabic Booker Prize. It was Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba, written by Rabai Al Madhoun.
All six shortlisted finalists of IPAF gathered in Abu Dhabi the night before the opening of the book fair. Upon hearing his name, Al Madhoun jumped of joy, raising his arms in victory. “Palestine rejoices today, as I rejoice,” said the author, still emotional.
Palestinian-born but now a British citizen, Al Madhoun lives and works as an editor in London. His family migrated from Ashkelon, Palestine – now Israel – to the Gaza strip after the 1948 nakba exodus. Leaving Gaza to attend Alexandria University, Al Madhoun later became involved with the Palestinian liberation struggle as a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He left activism in 1980 to focus on writing. His previous novel, The Lady
from Tel Aviv, was shortlisted for the 2010 IPAF. Destinies is the 70-year-old author’s third novel.
The judges of the award considered it to be a pioneering Palestinian novel written in four parts. Each part representing a concerto movement, the novel looks at the Palestinian exodus from Israel in 1948 (known as the nakba), the holocaust and the Palestinian right to return.
It examines the tragedy of everyday Palestinian life, telling the story of Palestinians living under occupation and forced to assume Israeli nationality, as well as exiled
I believe in coexistence as the only way to find an end to the bloody and painful struggle of the last 100 years.”
Rabai Al Madhoun
Palestinians trying to return to their now-occupied home country. “I believe in co-existence as the only way to find an end to the bloody and painful struggle of the last 100 years. I don’t think it will happen in my generation, but it will happen one day,” said Al Madhoun.
He will now return home with a cheque for $50,000 for winning the IPAF title, but more importantly, his novel’s story will get to be heard by a lot more people worldwide, as Destinies is guaranteed an English translation as well as an increase in book sales and international recognition. Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba was chosen by the IPAF judges as the best work of fiction published within the last 12 months, selected from 159 entries from 18 countries across the Arab World.
All shortlisted finalists were honoured at the ceremony, each receiving $10,000, the winner included. They are Tareq Bakari (Morocco)
for Numedia, Mohammed Rabie (Egypt) for Mercury, Mahmoud Shukair (Palestine) for Praise for the Women of the Family, Shahla Ujayli (Syria) for A Sky So Close to Our House and George Yaraq (Lebanon) for Guard of the Dead.