Jokha Alharthi
Born1978 (age 45–46)
Oman
NationalityOmani
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Occupation(s)Writer and academic
Known forMan Booker International Prize 2019
Notable workCelestial Bodies
Websitejokha.com

Jokha Alharthi (Arabic: جوخة الحارثي), also spelt al-Harthi, is an Omani writer and academic, known for winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2019 for her novel Sayyidat al-Qamar (Arabic: سيدات القمر), published in English under the title Celestial Bodies. She has written four novels in Arabic, two of which have been translated into English.

Biography

Born in 1978,[1] Alharthi was educated in Oman and in the United Kingdom. She obtained her PhD in classical Arabic literature from the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 2011.[2] In 2010, Alharthi was offered a professorship in classical Arabic literature at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman. As of 2021, she is an associate professor.[3][4] Alharti has three children.[5]

Alharthi has published three collections of short stories, three children's books, and four novels (Manamat, Sayyidat al-Qamar, Narinjah, and Harir al-Ghazala).[6] She has also authored academic works. Her work has been translated into English, Serbian, Korean, Italian, and German and published in Banipal magazine.[7] Alharthi won the Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts and Literature for her novel Narinjah (Bitter Orange) in 2016.

Sayyidat al-Qamar was shortlisted for the Zayed Award in 2011. An English translation by Marilyn Booth was published in the UK by Sandstone Press in June 2018 under the title Celestial Bodies, and won the Man Booker International Prize in 2019.[8] Sayyidat el-Qamar was the first work by an Arabic-language writer to be awarded the Man Booker International Prize, and the first novel by an Omani woman to appear in English translation. [9] The judges heralded the book as "a richly imagined, engaging and poetic insight into a society in transition and into lives previously obscured."[10] As of 2020, translation rights to Sayyidat el-Qamar have been sold in Azerbaijani, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Malayalam, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhalese, Slovenian, Swedish, and Turkish.

Alharthi's novel Narinjah, which Marilyn Booth also translated into English under the title Bitter Orange Tree,[11] was received to less acclaim than Sayyidat al-Qamar. In The Guardian, Maya Jaggi wrote a critical review, commenting: "Aided by Booth’s deft touch, some parts affirm the author’s talent for lyrical shifts between past and present, memory and folklore, oneiric surrealism and grimy realism. Yet structural flaws and an overambitious global reach make for a patchy read."[12] In the Washington Post, Ron Charles wrote that the book is an "exquisitely sensitive novel", but that it "spins its wheels without going anywhere."[13]

Harir al-Ghazala, Alharti's fourth novel to be published in Arabic, tells the story of a woman who was abandoned at birth. It was published by Lebanese publishing house Dar Al Adab in 2021.[14]

Bibliography

  • Manamat (Beirut: Lebanon: al-Mu'assassah al- 'Arabiyah li al-Dirasat wa al-Nashr, 2004).
  • Sayyidat al-Qamar (Beirut, Lebanon: Dār al-Ādāb, 2010). Celestial Bodies, trans. Marilyn Booth (Scotland: Sandstone Press, 2018).
  • Narinjah (Beirut, Lebanon: Dār al-Ādāb, 2016). Bitter Orange Tree, trans. Marilyn Booth (New York: Catapult, 2022).
  • Harir al-Ghazala (Beirut, Lebanon: Dār al-Ādāb, 2021).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Jokha Alharthi: 'A lot of women are really strong, even though they are slaves'". the Guardian. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Jokha Alharthi". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "College of Arts and Social Science > Departments > Arabic Language and Literature". www.squ.edu.om. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. ↑ The Tanjara blog, 24 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Jokha Alharthi: 'It is dangerous to see fiction as documentation'". Financial Times. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. ↑ Author's website Archived 28 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Profile in Banipal website. Archived 13 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Women dominate Man Booker International prize 2019 shortlist". The Irish Times. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Silcox, Beejay (21 October 2019). "The First Arabic Novel to Win the International Booker Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Man Booker International Prize 2019 winner announced". The Man Booker Prize. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  11. ↑ Debnath, Sayari. "Former International Booker winner Jokha Alharthi's latest novel leaves a bittersweet aftertaste". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi review – a life far from home". the Guardian. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Review | Jokha Alharthi's 'Bitter Orange Tree' is a taste of extravagant grief". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "'Harir Al-Ghazala': An Omani Novel Reveals Heritage's Implications on Women's Lives". Al-Fanar Media. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
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