“Half have some previous IPAF connection: There are two books by authors who’ve formerly participated in IPAF nadwas, or workshops (Mohamad Rabie and Shahla Ujayli) and one formerly shortlisted novelist (Raba’i al-Madhoun, for his ‘The Lady from Tel Aviv’).”
The announcement ceremony will be held at Muscat’s Cultural Club.
“If it were not for the failure of the January 2011 revolution, I wouldn’t have written the novel. All the ideas in the novel are built around its failure.”
“I think that the acts of confiscating Arab works, the repeated banning and confiscation of literary and intellectual works and the ongoing intimidation of Arab writers, as well as social censorship practiced by ordinary individuals on one another in Arab societies were the main inspiration.”
“[P]rograms were so difficult to find…that an employee at the press center handed me one like contraband, saying: “Don’t show this to anyone.”
“I’m not upset at Gawish or anyone…No one can speak on my behalf and say that I get upset from criticism.”
“[Y]ou cannot be neutral towards this novel.”
“At noon [on Sunday], a force of over 10 security personnel stormed the social media marketing company where Gawish works and arrested him, confiscating his laptop and other computers owned by the organization[.]”
Arab and Arabic literary events in some form of translation.
