“We often tend to read an author’s poetry against the backdrop of his/her critical writings, but I would argue that you can’t always do this with Adonis—for the simple reason that his poetry is much more radical, much more ambiguous, and much more open-ended that his prose.”
Awards were given in seven categories, including: poetry, prose, children’s literature, and translation.
“People were coming out onto the streets and at the same time there was this sense of imminent disaster. What happened on June 30 happened, the defeat came to pass, and it was then that I started to take the subject seriously.”
“One student translator will win a $200 award for best prose translation; one student translator will win a $200 award for best poetry translation.”
Current discussions include talks with Bilal Orfali on wise fools, Maurice Pomerantz on the magic of words, and Marcel Kurpershoek on Nabati and classical poetries.
“At the end, what is essential is to write a good literary work, and to hell with prizes.”
Prize organizers reported that this year they had received 175 submissions from around the world, and that winners in all categories — including the new “Best Silent Book” category — would be announced at the opening ceremony of the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019, on October 30, 2019.
From the beginning, Khashabi chose to be an independent theater, which has meant refusing institutional Israeli financial support, as, organizers say, “we believe in the importance of an independent and free Palestinian cultural scene.”
The five winners of the “novel” category receive $60,000 each, the manuscript category $30,000 each, the studies $15,000 each, the YA novels $10,000 each, and the Qatari novel a further $60,000.
