UAE: Oman’s aquatic novel wins top Arabic fiction award – News

Zahran Alqasmi’s The Water Diviner Wins International Arabic Fiction Award

Omani poet and novelist Zahran Alqasmi won the prestigious International Arabic Fiction Award on Sunday for his book “The Water Diviner”.

Al Qasmi, 49, will receive $50,000 and the awards committee will provide funds to translate the novel into English, organizers of the annual awards said on their website.

“Water Digger” tells the story of an Omani villager, Salem bin Abdullah, who is hired by his community to find groundwater reserves.

It deals with issues of water shortages and extreme weather events such as floods.

“Zahran Alqasmi’s ‘The Water Diviner’ explores a new theme in modern fiction: water and its impact on the natural environment and human life in hostile regions,” jury chair Mohammed Achaari said in a statement said in. .

Alqasmi, who has published four novels and 10 collections of poetry, is the first Omani recipient of the award, which is in its 16th year.

He was announced as this year’s winner at an awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

In an interview with the awards website, Alqasmi said the book also has a special focus on “how women can change the lives of the protagonists”.

Five other shortlisted authors from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and Egypt will each receive $10,000, organizers said. The award is supported by Abu Dhabi.

“Warm congratulations to Zahran Alqasmi for winning #ArabicFiction2023 for The Water Diviner. Set in an Omani village, The Water Diviner explores both the life-giving qualities of water and its potential to bring danger and death through water scarcity or flooding,” the organization said in a tweet.