The Palestinian novelist Hazama Habayeb wins the Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Literature

Nisaa FM: - The Palestinian writer Hazama Habayeb has been announced the winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Prize for Literature in 2017.

The American University in Cairo publishes the Naguib Mahfouz Prize on December 11 each year - the date of the birth of the world famous Nobel Prize winner of Egypt.

Hazma Habayeb is a novelist, writer, writer, translator and Palestinian poet who has won numerous awards, including the Mahmoud Saif al-Din Iranian Short Story Award and the Jerusalem Festival for Young Creativity in the Story.

She graduated from Kuwait University in 1987 after receiving a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature. She has published novels, short stories and poetry. Hazama Habayeb lives in Dubai, UAE and is a member of both the Jordan Writers Association and the General Union of Arab Writers.

The first Palestinian writer to receive the honour

Hazma Habayeb is the first Palestinian writer to be honoured with the prize.

At a ceremony held at the American University in central Cairo, the Palestinian writer received her award for her novel "Makhmal" published in 2016 by the Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing in Beirut.

The story revolves around the life of a Palestinian woman in the Palestinian refugee camp of Baqaa in Jordan. The novel is the writers third.

"A new Palestinian novel that does not revolve around the political issue, the resistance and the dream of return, it is about Palestinians who spend their lives without paying attention to them or writing their story," said the jury.

"The heroism in this novel is attributed to poetry and skill to play the strings of words, to release images with wings of imagination, and to balance the rhythm of the sentences of the building court. You read a velvet novel, as if you see your language with a bright smile and dance."

The award includes a silver medal and a financial reward in addition to the publication and translation of the work into English. 

Source: www.radionisaa.ps (translated from Arabic)