2023-10-13 16:36:50
Even before it begins, the Frankfurt Book Fair has its first debate. It’s about a novel by a Palestinian woman, which has become explosively topical due to the events in Israel.
Frankfurt/Main.
According to dpa information, the Palestinian author Adania Shibli will not be honored at the Frankfurt Book Fair as planned. She was to be awarded the Litprom Association’s “Liberaturpreis” on October 20th, an award for authors from the Global South. Her novel “A Minor Matter” was highly praised by critics, but was also criticized for allegedly anti-Semitic clichés.
“In view of the terror against Israel, Litprom is looking for a suitable setting for the event at a time after the book fair,” said book fair director Juergen Boos on Friday to the dpa, and emphasized: The prize winner was selected by an independent jury, Litprom is the organizer ” and fully responsible for the content of the award ceremony.
Shibli’s novel deals with a mass rape and the killing of a young Bedouin woman by Israeli soldiers in 1949. The book has already been nominated for the American National Book Award and the International Booker Prize. According to its publisher, the novel is “a haunting meditation on war, violence and the question of justice in storytelling.”
The writers’ association PEN-Berlin defended Shibli’s novel. “No book becomes different, better, worse or more dangerous because the news situation changes,” said the Austrian writer and PEN Berlin spokeswoman Eva Menasse on Friday. “Either a book is worthy of a prize or it is not. In my opinion, the jury’s decision for Shibli, which was made weeks ago, was a very good one. To withdraw the prize from her would be fundamentally wrong, both politically and literary.”
Mass in solidarity with Israel
“One can consider the novel’s depictions to be accurate or too one-sided,” added PEN Berlin spokesman Deniz Yücel. However, “a minor matter” is “a far cry from the clearly anti-Semitic drawings that rightly caused criticism at Documenta.”
Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel also has an impact on the Frankfurt Book Fair, which begins on Wednesday. “We condemn Hamas’ barbaric terror against Israel in the strongest possible terms,” said book fair director Boos, commenting on the current events. “The terror against Israel contradicts all the values of the Frankfurt Book Fair.” The fair stands “with full solidarity on Israel’s side.”
The book fair therefore wants to “make Jewish and Israeli voices particularly visible at the book fair.” For example, the author and peace activist Lizzie Doron, who lives in Tel Aviv and Berlin, will refer to current events in Israel at the literary gala on Saturday.
“We also spontaneously decided to create additional stage moments for Israeli voices,” announced Boos, such as the “Concern for Israel” event in the Frankfurt Pavilion. However, due to travel restrictions, events also had to be canceled, such as two concerts with Israeli singers. (dpa)
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