The Iraqi novelist Firat Al-Ani won the Arab Literature Prize in its 11th session for the year 2023, from the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the Arab World Institute in Paris, for his novel “I Remember Fallujah”…
The novel tells the story of identity and reimagining the interrupted dialogue between father and son. In the early 1970s, the young man Rami decided to escape from Saddam’s dictatorship, so he took refuge in France and remained secretive about his past. At the end of his life, while in the hospital, he said, “I remember Fallujah.” For his son, who sees it as an opportunity to finally discover his father’s story. Then comes the emptiness, as Rami forgot the second part of his life: the life of exile. Firat recounts what he knows in turn, hoping to uncover some secrets.
Furat Al-Ani says: “Writing the novel was an integral part of my unanswered questions. So when my father, a refugee, died, I wanted to make him speak, he who is silent, secretive, a refugee. The Arab Literature Award is a tremendous honor for me, and if there is a message I would like to convey it from Throughout this novel, it is the idea that we must refuse to forget, not forget where we came from…
The list of works nominated for the award this year included seven novels: “The Gates of Paradise” by Talib Al-Rifai from Kuwait – translated by Luc Barbulescu, the novel “I Remember Fallujah” by Furat Al-Ani from Iraq, the novel “The Orchards of Basra” by Mansoura Ezz Al-Din from Egypt, and the novel “The Five Sisters.” “By Salma Kjak from Lebanon, the novel “On the Greenwich Meridian” by Shadi Lewis from Egypt (who had He announced the withdrawal of his candidacy), in addition to the novel “If I Had a Franc” by Abdul Karim Al-Saifi from Algeria, and the novel “Maqam Al-Rih” by Samar Yazbek from Syria. According to the award’s regulations, four literary interviews will be presented with the finalists for the award, in the library of the Arab World Institute, during the months of October and November, noting that the award is awarded by the jury for one work, and it will receive an amount of 10 thousand euros.
Firat Al-Ani: He was born in France in 1980 of Iraqi origins. A journalist, he produced several documentaries for French television before establishing his own production company. He won the Albert Laundry Prize in 2019 for his book “The Perfume of Iraq.”