The best novel published in Arabic is written by a Palestinian author from an Israeli prison. This was determined this Sunday by the jury of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, popularly known as the Arab Booker, which awarded the prize to Basim Khandaqji (Nablus, Palestine, 1983) for the novel A mask, the color of the sky (2023). ), written entirely behind bars. The writer, arrested in 2004 at just 21 years old, is accused of terrorism and has been sentenced to three life sentences for his participation in planning a suicide attack that killed three people in Tel Aviv.
“It is the first time in the history of the award that a novel written behind the walls of an Israeli prison reaches readers on the other side,” said Professor Yasir Suleiman, president of the board of directors, a few days ago, when it was announced. to know the list of nominees. The media focus today was on this gala, held at the Fairmont hotel in Abu Dhabi, given the possibility that Khandaqji would emerge as the winner, as has ended up happening.
The novel, written between June and November 2021, focuses on the story of Nur, an archaeologist who lives in a refugee camp in Ramallah and who finds the identity card of an Israeli in the pocket of an old coat. It is then that he takes on the life of the document’s namesake, in an attempt to understand life behind the security fence.
Its editor Rana Idriss, from the Lebanese label Dar al-Adab, was in charge of collecting the award. “I am sure Basim would like to thank the organizers and the jury for this recognition, as well as his family, who have been his source of strength during the almost 21 years that he has been incarcerated.”
Minutes later, he confessed to La Vanguardia that he hopes that this recognition will put his cause back on the table, despite the fact that he does not trust that the writer will be released from prison. “When they announced that he was one of the nominees, they put him in an isolation cell. Let’s see what happens now that he has won. I suppose he will be listening to the news on the radio right now, but he will be satisfied, despite everything.”
Khandaqji finished his education in prison and has since written at least six books, including four novels and two collections of poems. The book will be translated into several languages, including Spanish, although Idriss has not specified with which publisher since “we are in negotiations.”
His brother, Yousef Khandaqji, was also present at the ceremony, where he reminded the media that the manuscript was written “under difficult circumstances. Basim has been moving from one prison to another this time due to the arbitrary measures taken by the administration of the penitentiary service. His notes were lost on more than one occasion because the guards used to destroy them.”
