At a ceremony at the Roundhouse in London, author Jokha Alharthi and translator Marilyn Booth were named as the joint winners of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize for Celestial Bodies.
The Man Booker International Prize celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world and Alharthi is the first Arabic writer to win the £50,000 prize – a sum which is split equally between author and translator.
Alharthi is also the first female Omani novelist to be translated into English and has two other novels to her name.
Celestial Bodies is a coming-of-age novel about three Omani sisters and is set against the backdrop of an Oman that is slowly redefining itself after the colonial era.
Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, author and broadcaster and chair of the judge’s panel said: “[Celestial Bodies is] a book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure, worth lingering over. Interweaving voices and timelines are beautifully served by the pacing of the novel. Its delicate artistry draws us into a richly imagined community — opening out to tackle profound questions of time and mortality and disturbing aspects of our shared history.
“The style is a metaphor for the subject, subtly resisting clichés of race, slavery and gender. The translation is precise and lyrical, weaving in the cadences of both poetry and everyday speech. Celestial Bodies evokes the forces that constrain us and those that set us free.”
Alharthi will be the final author to win the Man Booker International Prize as the Man Group’s sponsorship of the prize ends this year.
It has been taken over by charitable foundation, Crankstart, and will be known as the International Booker Prize from June 1 this year. The original prize, which celebrates works written in English, will once again be known as the Booker Prize – a title it last held in 2001.
You can buy Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi here.
Follow us on Instagram: @eslifeandstyle
