Jokha Alharthi has become the first Arabic author to win the Man Booker International prize for her novel \u201cCelestial Bodies\u201d which reveals her Omani homeland\u2019s post-colonial transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am thrilled that a window has been opened to the rich Arabic culture,\u201d Alharthi, 40, told reporters after the ceremony at the Roundhouse in London on Tuesday.
\nAlharthi is the author of two previous collections of short fiction, a children\u2019s book and three novels in Arabic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She studied classical Arabic poetry at Edinburgh University and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat.
\n\u201cOman inspired me but I think international readers can relate to the human values in the book – freedom and love,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three sisters witness Oman\u2019s evolution from a traditional, slave-owning society.\u201cIt touches the subject of slavery. I think literature is the best platform to have this dialogue,\u201d Alharthi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jury said: \u201cElegantly structured and taut, it tells of Oman\u2019s coming-of-age through the prism of one family\u2019s losses and loves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alharthi\u2019s translator was US academic Marilyn Booth, who teaches Arabic literature at Oxford University.The judges said Celestial Bodies was \u201ca richly imagined, engaging and poetic insight into a society in transition and into lives previously obscured\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who is waiting for her beloved who has emigrated to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Guardian said it offers \u201cglimpses into a culture relatively little known in the west\u201d and The National said it signalled \u201cthe arrival of a major literary talent\u201d, calling the book \u201ca densely woven, deeply imagined tour de force\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jury chair Bettany Hughes said the novel showed \u201cdelicate artistry and disturbing aspects of our shared history\u201d.\u201cThe style is a metaphor for the subject, subtly resisting cliches of race, slavery and gender,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jokha Alharthi has become the first Arabic author to win the Man Booker International prize for her novel \u201cCelestial Bodies\u201d which reveals her Omani homeland\u2019s post-colonial transformation. \u201cI am thrilled that a window has been opened to the rich Arabic culture,\u201d Alharthi, 40, told reporters after the ceremony at the Roundhouse in London on Tuesday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61918,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61916\/revisions\/61918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}