After serving 20 years in prison in Israel, Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji was awarded a top prize for Arabic literature on Sunday for his book A Mask, the Color of the Sky. At a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction was revealed.
Dar al-Adab, the book’s publisher in Lebanon, is owned by Rana Idriss, who accepted the prize on Khandaqji’s behalf. Nablus, a city in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, is the birthplace of Khandaqji, who lived there until 2004 when he was arrested at the age of 21.
After being found guilty and imprisoned for his involvement in a fatal bombing in Tel Aviv, he used the internet to do his university coursework while inside.
The blue identity card that Nur, an archaeologist residing in a Ramallah refugee camp, discovers in the pocket of an old Israeli coat is referenced in the novel’s title as “the mask.”
The novel written by Khandaqji was selected from 133 submissions for the competition. The work “dissects a complex, bitter reality of family fragmentation, displacement, genocide, and racism,” according to Nabil Suleiman, the jury’s head.
Khandaqji has authored poetry books such as Rituals of the First Time and The Breath of a Nocturnal Poem since his imprisonment. In addition, he has authored three previous novels.
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