Ali al-Muqri (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: علي المقري) (born in

Taiz Taiz () is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. As of 2023, the city has an estimated p ...

) is a

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i novelist and writer. Two of his novels - '' Black Taste, Black Odour'' and '' The Handsome Jew'' - have been long-listed for the

Arab Booker Prize The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) (), also known as "the Arabic Booker", is regarded as the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing ...

. He also received a special commendation from the jury of the 2015 French Prize for Arabic Literature, for his novel ''Ḥurma'' (''Femme interdite''), translated into French by Khaled Osman and Ola Mehanna. Al-Muqri's work has been published in ''

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, ''

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'', and in French newspaper ''

La Libération LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

''. In 1997, he became editor-in-chief of ''Al-Ḥikmah'', the journal of the Yemeni Writers Association. He later served as the editor of literary journal ''Ǧaymān''. In 2015, he fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after receiving death threats for writing sexually charged books.

List of publications

* ''Nāfiḏat lil-ğasad'' (A Window into the Body) (1987) * ''Tarmīmāt'' (Restorations) (1999; 2000) * ''Yaḥdat fī al-nasī'ān'' (It Comes with Forgetfulness) (2003) * ''al-Khamr wa-al-nabīdh fī al-islām '' (Wine and Nabīd in Islam) (2007) * ''Ṭaʿm aswad…Rā’iḥah sawdā’'' (Black Taste, Black Odour) (2008) * ''Al-Yahūdī al-Ḥālī'' (The Handsome Jew) (2009) - translated into French as ''Le Beau Juif'' (2011), and into Italian as ''Il Bell’Ebreo'' (2012) * ''Ḥurmah'' (Woman) (2012) - translated into French as ''La Femme Interdite'' (2015), in English as ''Hurma'' (2015), and in Italian as ''Donna proibita'' (2021) * ''Bukhūr 'Adanī'' (Adeni Incense) (2014)

References

Notes

External links

An Interview with the Author

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muqri, Ali Al Living people 20th-century Yemeni novelists People from Taiz 21st-century Yemeni novelists 1966 births