Palestinian writer Adania Shibli (CRF 2013) has been in the middle of an international controversy after an event celebrating her latest novel, “Minor Detail,” about Palestinian history and memory, was canceled by the Frankfurt Book Fair. Shibli’s novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and longlisted for the International Booker Prize, was to be presented the 2023 LiBeraturpreis at the prestigious international fair. The prize is given annually to a woman from the Global South by the Lit Prom organization, which champions world literature. Lit Prom said it was looking for another venue in which to present Shibli the prize.
Among the many voices criticizing the fair for calling off the event was Pamela Paul, an opinion columnist for The New York Times. “Taking a side in a war does not require taking positions on a work of fiction — no matter the subject matter or the author’s nationality — and that is the effect of the fair organizers’ decision,” Paul wrote in a column. “The move sends an unfortunate message to both authors and readers, advancing the false notion that there is a wrong time for certain authors or novels and that now is not the time for Palestinian literature. As if novelists were somehow responsible to or for global conflicts and must be judged in accordance with whatever political events take place at the time of publication.”
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Photo by Franziska Rothenbühler.