Award-winning Palestinian author’s event cancelled at Frankfurt Book Fair; open letter condemns move
- The decision to celebrate autor Adania Shibli, and to hold panel discussions featuring her, was cancelled by literary association Litprom following the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters at locations in southern Israel.
The cancellation of an event to honour award-winning Palestinian author Adania Shibli at the Frankfurt Book Fair drew condemnation, as several eminent personalities penned an open letter to condemn the move.
Shibli was scheduled to be handed over the prize of 2023 LiBeraturpreis – an award conferred upon the best women authors across Asia, Africa and Latin America – by literary association Litprom at the book fair which will be held in Germany's Frankfurt from October 18-22.
The award was to be given for her 2017 novel Minor Detail, which highlights the alleged atrocity committed by Israeli military personnel against a Bedouin girl in 1949.
The decision to celebrate Shibli, and to hold panel discussions featuring her, was cancelled by Litprom following the October 7 attack by Hamas fighters at locations in southern Israel. Also, the author's work has also drawn “anti-Semitism” allegations from some corners.
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“While Shibli’s ‘Minor Detail’ has been smeared as being anti-Semitic by two journalists and literary editors, other serious literary critics have clearly refuted this in the German press and elsewhere," LA Times quoted the letter as stating. It has been reportedly signed by personalities like Wallace Shawn, Colm Tóibín, Eileen Myles, Hari Kunzru, Sapphire and Rachel Kushner, among others.
“The Frankfurt Book Fair has a responsibility, as a major international book fair, to be creating spaces for Palestinian writers to share their thoughts, feelings, reflections on literature through these terrible, cruel times, not shutting them down,” the letter added.
Meanwhile, Litprom, in a statement, also dismissed the anti-Semitism charges levelled against the author.
“Due to the war started by Hamas, under which millions of people in Israel and Palestine are suffering, the organiser Litprom e.V. decided to not hold the award ceremony of the LiBeraturpreis at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Litprom is looking for a suitable format and setting for the event at a later point. Awarding the prize to Adania Shibli was never in question. Litprom firmly rejects the accusations and defamations made against the author and the novel in parts of the press as unfounded,” it said.
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Business NewsNewsAward-winning Palestinian author’s event cancelled at Frankfurt Book Fair; open letter condemns move
First Published:17 Oct 2023, 09:43 PM IST
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