Ishtiyaq Shukri is a South African writer, author of the novels ''The Silent Minaret'' and ''I See You''.
''The Silent Minaret'' was the first book to receive the
European Union Literary Award, in 2004.
Career
Shukri's writing career was launched in 2004, when his unpublished manuscript, ''The Silent Minaret'', won the European Union Literary Award. The novel, which deals with the global impact of the "War on Terror,"
was inspired by the announcement of the
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
in November 2001.
His second novel, ''I See You'', expands on the themes established in ''The Silent Minaret'', with conflict centering on an abducted war photographer. He has said he hopes his writing complicates people's notions of "boil-in-the-bag recipes for ready-to-eat patriotism."
In 2015, Shukri was nominated for the inaugural Financial Times Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards, but rejected the award.
Shukri stated he objected to the classification of "emergent," which is often applied to African writers, and belittles the global impact of African literature, Shukri said.
Shukri cites
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
and his memoir ''Out of Place'', and
T.E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...
's ''
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British Army Colonel T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") while serving as a military advisor to Bedouin forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empi ...
'' as some of his greatest influences.
[
]
Personal life
Shukri has been a permanent resident of the United Kingdom since 1997. His wife is a British citizen. The couple have been married since 1996.[
In July 2015, Shukri was detained by ]United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
border officials at Heathrow
Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
, before being deported. Shukri was traveling to visit his wife.
open letter
to Archbishop Desmond Tutu in which he addresses Tutu’s recent stepping down as an ambassador for Oxfam after the sex scandal that rocked the international charity. In the letter, Shukri states that he himself is a survivor of child sexual abuse by priests from the Church of England, and asks why ‘the Archbishop has never fully addressed such systematic and institutionalised sexual abuse happening in his own organisation’. In 2021 Shukri Shukri published
longer piece
on this subject in which he named the priests who abused him as Roy Snyman
The Reverend Canon Robin Roy Snyman was a priest in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, who served as Dean of Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Kimberley and rector of St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley, St Cyprian’s Cathedral, and afterwards ...
and Keith Thomas.
Books
*''The Silent Minaret'' (Jacana, 2007)
*''I See You'' (Jacana, 2015)
References
External links
Open letter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shukri, Ishtiyaq
21st-century South African novelists
South African male novelists
21st-century South African male writers