Khaberni - Last night, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation celebrated the poet and novelist Ibrahim Nasrallah for his victory with the "Neustadt" International Literature Prize, in the presence of a select group of writers, academics, and invitees.
The honoring ceremony, held at the Shoman Cultural Forum, featured Dr. Mu'ajab Al-Zahrani, Dr. Razan Ibrahim, Dr. Ziad Al-Zoubi, and was managed by Dr. Lidya Rashid.
With his win of the 29th "Neustadt" International Literature Prize last October, the author Ibrahim Nasrallah receives significant international recognition, from one of the most important global literary awards, often called "America's Nobel," and he becomes the first Arab writer to win this prize since it was established in 1970.
The executive president of the foundation, Valentina Qassisieh, in her speech, said, "Today's meeting is not an ordinary occasion but a bright moment of acknowledging the importance of writing. It brings the text from the margin to the center, and the Arabic word ascends to greet the world with confidence and beauty,” noting that Nasrallah has been devoted, during half a century of working on his creative project, to everything capable of giving the word dimensions that do not confine it to a specific meaning but take it within a global human system, marking his name as a long-lasting creative project, faithful to it to this day.
She pointed out that the "Neustadt" prize that Nasrallah recently received is a global recognition of the Arab word and creativity, a token of trust in our Arab civilizational project, not only honoring Ibrahim Nasrallah himself, but also opening a wide window to Arab literature, telling the world: Here is the dreamy Arabic language carrying centuries of meaning.
Dr. Mu'ajab Al-Zahrani spoke about the deep relationship with Nasrallah, recalling some of the events they shared during cultural participations and occasions.
He highlighted that what is striking in Nasrallah’s works is the embrace of new style and modernity, noting that the French school is famous in this regard.
He explained that there is a group of writers from various countries who write in a new language and this is considered a fresh vision, including a few writers from the Arab world like Ibrahim Nasrallah, who focus on this style. He added that this style contains a deep, satirical critical vision with many questions, and Ibrahim Nasrallah embodies this a lot in his narrative writings.
Dr. Razan Ibrahim said, "By celebrating Ibrahim Nasrallah today, the impact of the award transcends the boundaries of individual achievement to a distinguished narrative project, becoming a cultural event that touches the collective consciousness and human conscience, as it carries symbolic recognition of a literature that has succeeded in producing a noticeable humanistic and aesthetic discourse. Moreover, I see in it a factor in including specifically the Palestinian experience on the map of global narrative with its political and documentary dimensions."
She added, "Undoubtedly, Ibrahim Nasrallah is among those novelists who have a strong connection with the cinematic scene. Indeed, we can count the cinematic film as an important cultural source in his creations, which he invokes in his novels to clarify the idea."
Dr. Ziad Al-Zoubi said in his speech, "We observe in Ibrahim Nasrallah a personality capable of adapting its temperament to tread the paths of creativity not only in poetry and prose but also in painting, the seventh art, and meticulous research. With this creative work, he reminds us of those rare creative, great models who have mastered more than one art and science."
He stated that Nasrallah's works, diverse in their genres, represent a distinctive qualitative addition to global literature. The translation of many of his works, especially his novels into several world languages, has been a broad gateway for his presence in the sphere of global literature, surpassing national and cultural language boundaries, becoming epic, humanistic, ideologically innocuous narrative, and transcending preachy superficiality, becoming a narrative expressing the human spirit, and the meaning of cohesiveness with the homeland and defending it at all times.
From his side, the poet and novelist Nasrallah said, "It is not easy for a person to dedicate his life to writing, but it is the best solution if he is capable, thus I have found myself devoted to my project, a companion to my words, careful with them, and a guardian for them from stumbling in darkness or blinding light. I wanted them to be good like many faces and hearts, without which I would not be what I am today."
He said, "At the end of next September, I will go to the University of Oklahoma to receive the 'Neustadt' prize, and I am happy that the Arabic language is winning it, for the first time since the establishment of the prize, and happy that the novel which represented my works, with its English translation in this award that is granted for a comprehensive body of works, poetry and prose, is 'Time of White Horses,' which says explicitly that Palestine was and will remain, from its river to its sea, Palestinian Arab, and I am happy that a conference on Palestinian culture will be held during the days designated for the award celebration at the granting university which was founded in 1890, under the sponsorship of “World Literature Today” magazine, which has been published since 1927."
And Ibrahim Nasrallah is a Jordanian poet, novelist, and writer born in Amman in 1954, considered one of the most prominent contemporary Arab writers; his works have been translated into many languages, characterized by a mix of historical realism and fantasy, dealing with human and Palestinian issues, and he has won many important literary awards. He is also a painter and a photographer.
