BookFabulous
  • Home
  • Meet the Author
  • Beyond The Blog
  • About

BookFabulous

reader, writer, reviewer. battler of bathroom scales

 tends to throw in the odd film or art mention

"Velvet" by Huzama Habayeb Wins 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

13/2/2021

0 Comments

 
by Rana Asfour
Picture

​“Velvet” by Huzama Habayeb, translated from the Arabic by Kay Heikkinen won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2017. Its translation released in 2019 by Hoopoe has won the 2020 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.

The novel, set in Jordan, follows a day in the life of Hawwa, a woman hailing from the grinding hardship of the Palestinian camp of Baqa’a. We meet her at a point when she’s fallen in love - an unexpected miracle in a life that for 40 odd years has known only humiliation & family abuse. The novel unfolds over the day in Hawwa’s life in which she is preparing for a new life that will finally see her leave the camp.

A strong cast of characters & extremely powerful imagery. The author engages the senses in a way that renders readers fully immersed in the narrative, deeply invested in Hawwa. Through Hawwa’s present recollections of her past we are treated to the meager ways women in a domineering patriarchal society scavenge for relief amid the relentless generational sorrow & abuse rendering claustrophobic parts of the novel closer to prison literature than plain fiction.

Just over 250 pages, this is one of the darkest novels I’ve read in a long time. I applaud authors like Habayeb who bravely & brazenly expose societal & domestic violence even though this was a real toughie. I’ve exhausted my reserves of steel on this one. My tears (of sadness & pain, frustration & anger) are another matter.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Paperblog

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    January 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    May 2011
    January 2011
    September 2010

Search Engine Submission - AddMe
Local Business Directory, Search Engine Submission & SEO Tools
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from byzantiumbooks, Dmitry Karyshev, GalacticWanderlust, quietlyurban.com
  • Home
  • Meet the Author
  • Beyond The Blog
  • About