The Frankfurt Book Fair announces the cancellation of the award ceremony for Adania Shibli, Palestinian author of the book “A Minor Detail”. The motivation, published in a statement by Litprom, the literary agency that organizes the prize, is “the war in Israel.” On the other hand, “additional space will be given to Israeli voices,” he almost said […]
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The book fair Frankfurt announces the cancellation of the award ceremony Adania Shibli, Palestinian author of the book “A Minor Detail.” The motivation, published in a statement by Litprom, the literary agency that organizes the prize, is “the war in Israel.” On the other hand, “the Israeli voices will be given additional space,” he announced almost at the same time: Jürgen BoosHead of the German trade fair.
Shibli’s book has been causing controversy since this summer Ulrich Noller, journalist and member of the prize jury, resigned from the decision to honor the Palestinian writer. The discussion was then reignited by a newspaper article published this week that accused the book, which tells the true story of a Bedouin woman raped and killed by Israeli soldiers in 1949, of “describing Israel as a machine murderer.” The volume, which was translated into German and published in 2022, was awarded the prestigious prize Liberaturpreis Prize, awarded to authors from Asia, Africa and the Arab world. The award is presented every year at a ceremony at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the largest and most prestigious events in global publishing.
Boos’ comments and the cancellation of the Shibli awards ceremony have sparked protests among Arab publishers and many authors. From the Sharjah Book Authority to the Association of Arab Publishers of the Emirates to many independent Arab publishers and writers, the announcement of the Withdrawal of their participation from the event in Frankfurt. “We support the role of culture and books – writes the Association of Arab Publishers of the Emirates in a statement – to promote dialogue and understanding between people.” And they conclude: “We believe that this role today is more important than ever.”
Khatibi said, a famous Algerian writer, also announced the cancellation of his participation because, as he wrote on Facebook, “we hoped that literature would play an important role in building a dialogue between the parties.” But, continues Khatibi, who had planned two meetings, “the fair represented a political position of only one side against the other,” the Palestinians. Director Boos had stated in recent days that “the fair strongly condemns the barbaric terror of Hamas” and that “its thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the people who suffer from this war,” without mentioning the Palestinian victims . Litprom is trying to quell the controversy and announced after the riot that it would reorganize the ceremony. But only after the fair ends.