Palestinian prisoner wins prestigious Arabic literary award

Palestinian novelist Basim Khandaqji, currently incarcerated by the Israeli occupation state, has been awarded this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his book ‘A Mask, the Colour of the Sky’.

The award was announced on Sunday at a ceremony in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and was received on his behalf by Rana Idriss, owner of Dar Al-Adab, the book’s Lebanon-based publisher.

“Basim would like to thank the organisers and judging panel of the Ipaf awards. He would also like to thank his family who have been his source of strength throughout the nearly 21 years that he has been imprisoned, particularly his brother Yousef Khandaqji, his brother and partner in life,” Idriss said on receiving the award.

We are delighted to announce that the #ArabicFiction2024 winning novel is A Mask, the Colour of the Sky by Basim Khandaqji. Read more here: https://t.co/Tfe2cPH87b #winner #fiction #literature pic.twitter.com/TwETbEVgfN

— International Prize for Arabic Fiction (@Arabic_Fiction) April 28, 2024

Yousef, who was in attendance, was quoted by the National as saying: “Speaking on behalf of my dear brother, he dedicates this victory to all the Palestinian people.”

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“I miss him every day and he is in our hearts every day.”

Khandaqji was born in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus and has been in prison since 2004 for his involvement in a deadly bombing in Tel Aviv. He has continued his literary and academic pursuits while incarcerated, serving three life sentences.

He completed his university studies in Political Science via Al-Quds University and has written several works including poetry collections and novels. ‘A Mask, the Colour of the Sky’ revolves around the story of Nur, an archaeologist living in a refugee camp in Ramallah, who discovers an Israeli’s identity card, leading him on a journey of identity and understanding.

The IPAF is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the Arab world, aiming to promote high-quality Arabic literature. Khandaqji’s win is notable not only for his personal circumstances but also for the themes of his novel, which according to chairman of this year’s panel of judges, Syrian writer Nabil Suleiman “dissects a complex, bitter reality of family fragmentation, displacement, genocide and racism.”

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