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Imprisoned Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji wins International Prize for Arabic Fiction
Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji has won the 17th International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel A Mask, the Colour of the Sky.
This is the Khandaqji’s fourth novel, written and published during his ongoing prison sentence. The owner of its Lebanon-based publishing house Dar al-Adab, Rana Idriss, accepted the award in Abu Dhabi on behalf of the author.
The "mask" of the book’s title refers to a blue identity card belonging to an Israeli, which is found by the protagonist Nur – an archaeologist living in a refugee camp in Ramallah. He adopts this mask, and what follows is an experimental and multi-layered narrative which sets out to "reclaim elements of history and place with vivid and memorable characterisation".
The judges selected the winning book from 133 submitted titles as the best novel published in Arabic between July 2022 and June 2023.
According to LitHub, Khandaqji was arrested by Israeli authorities on terrorism charges in 2004, and convicted of three life sentences for helping to plan a suicide bombing that killed three people in Tel Aviv. He was 21 years old at the time.
Since being imprisoned, Khandaqji has obtained a degree in political sciences and published several poetry collections – including Rituals of the First Time (2010) and The Breath of a Nocturnal Poem (2013) – as well as three earlier novels, The Narcissus of Isolation (2017), The Eclipse of Badr al-Din (2019) and The Breath of a Woman Let Down (2020).
Nabil Suleiman, chair of the 2024 judges, said A Mask, the Colour of the Sky "ventures into experimenting with new narrative forms to explore three types of consciousness: that of the self, the other and the world" adding that the narrative "pulses with compassion".
Professor Yasir Suleiman, chair of the board of trustees, praised the novel for "ensnaring the reader in its galloping storylines and unexpected subtle humour".
The aim of IPAF is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage the readership of high-quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication in other major languages of novels recognised by the prize.
Alongside Khandaqji, the 2024 shortlist features novels by Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia), Rima Bali (Syria), Osama Al-Eissa (Palestine), Ahmed Al-Morsi (Egypt) and Eissa Nasiri (Morocco).
The authors of the shortlisted novels are awarded $10,000 (£8,000) and the winner’s prize is a further $50,000 (£39,900). Funding is also made available for the winning novel to be translated into English.
