ABU DHABI: Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji, jailed by Israel 20 years ago, won a prestigious award for Arabic fiction on Sunday for his novel “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky”.
The 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction was announced at an event in Abu Dhabi.
Rana Idriss, owner of Dar al-Adab, the book’s Lebanon-based publisher accepted the award on behalf of Khandaqji.
The Palestinian author was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus in 1983, and wrote short stories until his arrest in 2004 at the age of 21.
He was convicted and imprisoned on charges relating to a bombing in Tel Aviv, and completed his education from jail through the internet.
His novel revolves around Nur, an archaeologist living in a refugee camp in Ramallah, who finds a blue identity card in the pocket of an old coat of an Israeli.
Khandaqji’s novel was picked from 133 works submitted to the competition.
Nabil Suleiman, who chaired the jury, said the novel talks about a complex, bitter reality of family fragmentation, genocide, displacement and racism.
Since being jailed Khandaqji has written many poetry collections including “The Breath of a Nocturnal Poem” and “Rituals of the First Time”.
Earlier he had also written three novels.
