Basim Khandaqji, a Palestinian writer, was awarded a prestigious prize for Arabic fiction on Sunday for his novel “A Mask, the Color of the Sky.” The book revolves around the life of Nur, an archaeologist residing in a refugee camp in Ramallah. The announcement of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction took place at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
In the story, Nur, an archaeologist, discovers a blue ID card belonging to an Israeli citizen. He places the card inside the pocket of an old coat and assumes the persona of the card’s owner to gain access to sites in the West Bank. Along his journey, Nur gains insight into his oppressors.
“This is the first time in the history of the Prize that a novel from behind the walls of an Israeli jail reaches out to readers on the other side,” remarked Professor Yasir Suleiman, Chair of the Board of Trustees, upon unveiling the shortlist.
Nabil Suleiman, who chaired the jury, described the novel as one that “dissects a complex, bitter reality of family fragmentation, displacement, genocide, and racism.”
Khandaqji’s Life
In 2004, at the age of 21, Khandaqji was arrested on terrorism charges and convicted of three life sentences by Israeli authorities for his involvement in the planning of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
While in prison, Khandaqji pursued his education and authored four novels and two collections of poems. These include “Rituals of the First Time” and “The Breath of a Nocturnal Poem.”
Khandaqji’s brother was interviewed by the IPAF organizers, where he stated that “A Mask, the Color of the Sky” was written between June and November 2021, “in difficult circumstances.” He added, “Basim was inside various prisons, moving from one prison to another because of the arbitrary measures taken by the prison service administration. Occasionally, he would lose some of the information he had collected because a prison guard destroyed it.”
Regarding his writing rituals, his brother explained, “Writing rituals? No rituals apart from writing from 5 to 7 am—that is what Basim told me on one of the monthly visits, which lasted only 45 minutes. He writes before the prison administration counts the prisoners and before the prison guard starts making a racket, which he is adept at finding new ways of doing. In these two hours, Basim writes approximately two pages, and very often the papers are taken from him and destroyed by the guard. Of course, I don’t mean that this happens only to Basim. It happens to all the prisoners who are writing while in detention.”
Chosen from 133 works submitted to the competition, Khandaqji is unlikely to receive the $50,000 prize for the award because the Israel Prison Service informed Israeli media that “if it decided that a terrorist should be rewarded with a prize, it would be impossible to receive it.” Many assume that Khandaqji won’t even be informed of his win.
Established in 2007 to promote a readership of Arabic literary works globally, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, known as “the Arabic Booker,” is widely regarded as the most prestigious literary prize in the Arab world.
