The Banipal Trust has announced the winner of the annual Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
The award has been won by Roger Allen for this translation of A Muslim Suicide. The novel was originally written by Bensalem Himmich. Allen’s translation of the novel was released this year in May by Syracuse University Press. Literature.
In addition to Allen being named the winner, Humphrey Davies was announced as the runner-up for his translation of I Was Born There, I Was Born Here by acclaimed writer Mourid Barghouti. Davies has previously won the prize twice – once in 2006 for his work on Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury and again in 2010 for his work on Yalo also by Khoury. Since 2009, winners have been awarded £3,000 as part of their prize.
The Banipal Trust – the awarding trust for the prize – stated: “It is a major work of translation that impressed all the judges with its remarkable sophistication and ambition, its rich philosophical and literary tapestry, and the seamless way in which it has been translated”.
The Banipal Trust
Established in 2004 in the United Kingdom by the publisher of Banipal magazine, the aim of the trust is to promote Arabic literature in the Anglophonic world through supporting and encouraging quality Arabic to English translation of literary work.
Banipal also works to promote the readership of Arabic pieces with its own book club that regularly gets together having read selected Arabic literature. Furthermore, the Banipal Trust is also home to The Banipal Arab British Centre Library of Modern Arab Litearture, a leading Arabic literature library in London with several works of fiction, poetry and plays.
Arabic Translations
The prize highlights the growing interest in Arabic language literature as well as the growing influence of Arabic across cultures.
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