Wajdi al-Ahdal (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: وجدي الأهلي) (born 1973) is a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

i novelist, short story writer and playwright.

Laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Prize, and for former music direc ...

of the

International Prize for Arabic Fiction The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) ( ar, الجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية) is the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic ...

(IPAF) in 2008, is known for his contemporary literary style and sometimes socially critical works, some of which have been censored in Yemen. Until 2019, he has published five novels, four collections of short stories, a play and a film screenplay.

Life and career

Wajdi al-Ahdal was born near Bajil in the province of Al Hudaydah and studied at the University of Sanaa. His first short stories were published in 1995 in a Yemeni newspaper, and later in ''Aswat'' magazine, which was edited by Yemeni poet

Abdul Aziz al-Maqaleh Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh (Arabic:; 1937 – 28 November 2022) was a Yemeni poet and writer. He followed the school of free poetry and he was the Yemen's first poet to win the Al-Owais cultural Award. Life and career Al-Maqaleh was born in 1937 ...

. In 2002, al-Ahdal's novel ''Qawarib Jabaliya'' (Mountain Boats) was confiscated by the Yemeni Ministry of Culture for insulting ‘morality, religion, and conventions of Yemeni society’. To avoid imprisonment, he spent some time in exile in Syria before being able to return to Yemen. A more recent novel, ''The Quarantine Philosopher'' was nominated for the

(IPAF) in 2008. In 2010, al-Ahdal was selected as one of the invited writers for Beirut39, a group of 39 Arab writers under the age of 40, chosen through a contest organised by

Banipal ''Banipal'' is an independent literary magazine dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Arab literature through translations in English. It was founded in London in 1998 by Margaret Obank and Samuel Shimon. The magazine is published three ti ...

magazine and the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

. He was also chosen by IPAF to be one of the seven participants in its writers' workshop ''Nadwa'' in 2010. al-Ahdal's work has appeared in English translation in a number of anthologies: * ''Oranges in the Sun: Contemporary Short Stories from the Arabian Gulf'' (2006) * ''Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World'' (2010) * ''Emerging Arab Voices: Nadwa 1: A Bilingual Reader'' (2011) * ''Banipal 36: Literature in Yemen Today'' *''Banipal 65'': Contains a chapter from his novel ''Land of Happy Conspiracies'' His novel '' A Land without Jasmine'' was translated into English by William M. Hutchins. This translation won the 2013

Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation The Banipal Prize, whose full name is the Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, is an annual prize awarded to a translator (or translators) for the published English translation of a full-length literary work in the Arab ...

. According to the Banipal Trust, "Wajdi’s book is in a category all its own, fusing together elements of police procedural, myth, fable, psychological thriller and scathing social critique." He currently works in the cinema and drama department of the Yemeni

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

References

External links

*
Excerpt from Wajdi al-Ahdal’s novel ''Donkey in the Choir'' in English translation
at wordswithoutborders.org
Wajdi al-Ahdal's story ''‘Saghira’s Laws’''
','' translated into English and illustrated for a special website by Yemen Policy Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahdal, Wajdi al- 1973 births Living people Yemeni writers Yemeni novelists Yemeni dramatists and playwrights Sanaa University alumni People from Al Hudaydah Governorate

Life and career

See also

References

External links