The winners of the sixth annual Palestine Book Awards were announced this evening in London, honouring leading authors from around the world for their contribution to literature on the topic of Palestine.
Two books were presented with the Academic Award. Bjorn Brenner was honoured for his work “Gaza Under Hamas: From Islamic Democracy to Islamist Governance” and Laila Parsons for “The Commander: Fawzi Al-Qawuqji and the Fight for Arab Independence 1914-1948”.
Ella Shohat was presented the Memoir Award for her book “On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and other Displacements”, while Samia Halaby took home the Creative Award for “Drawing the Kafr Qasem Massacre”.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, a prize that honours the author’s many contributions to literature on Palestine, was presented to Professor Ilan Pappe who also wrote one of the nominated books on this year’s shortlist “The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories”.
MEMO’s much anticipated and flagship event is the culmination of months of hard work. Nominations start in January with submissions being made by national and international publishers. This year’s shortlist was determined after the submission of some 40 books on Palestinian issues.
To submit a book for consideration for next year’s awards, visit the Palestine Book Awards’ website where the opening date for next year’s awards will be listed in the coming months.