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On 21 May, Jokha Alharthi became the first Arab author to win the Man Booker International Award for her novel "Celestial Bodies", which reveals the postcolonial transformation of her Omani homeland.
"I am delighted that a window has been opened. Alharthi, 40, told reporters after the ceremony at the London Roundhouse.
Alharthi is the author of two previous collections of short stories, a children's book and three novels in Arabic. She studied clbadical Arabic poetry at the University of Edinburgh and taught at the Sultan Qaboos University of Muscat.
"Oman has inspired me, but I think international readers can understand the human values in the book – freedom and love," she said. [19659002] The prestigious prize of 50,000 pounds (more than 44 rupees lakh), which celebrates fictions translated from around the world, is divided equally between the author and the translator. Alharthi's translator was Marilyn Booth, an American academic, who teaches Arabic literature at Oxford University.
The judges stated that Celestial Bodies was "a rich, imaginative, engaging and poetic insight into a society in transition and lives previously obscured".
Oman's arrival at adulthood
It takes place in the village of Al Awafi, Oman, where we meet three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heart attack . Asma, who gets married through a sense of duty; and Khawla, who is waiting for his beloved who has emigrated to Canada. The three sisters are witnesses of the evolution of Oman from a traditional society with slaves.
"This touches on the subject of slavery. I think literature is the best platform for this dialogue, "said Alharthi.
The jury said: "Elegantly structured and tense, it tells the pbadage to the adult age of Oman under the prism of the losses and loves of a family". [19659002] The Guardian says it offers "insights into a relatively unknown culture in the West" and that The National reported "the arrival of a major literary talent," qualifying the a book of "densely woven, deeply imagined tour de force."
The jury president, Bettany Hughes, stated that the novel showed "a delicate art and troubling aspects of our common history. Style is a metaphor for the subject, subtly resistant to clichés of race, slavery and gender "
. Alharthi faced five other shortlisted authors: Annie Ernaux (France), Marion Poschmann (Germany), Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), and Chile (Chile). Alia Trabucco Zeran.
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