Haji Jabir (born 1976) is an
Eritrean novelist and journalist. He was born in the city of
Massawa
Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...
on the
Red Sea coast. Writing in Arabic, he has published five novels until 2021. With the nomination of ''Black Foam'' (2018), Jabir became the first Eritrean novelist to be longlisted for 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 ...
.
Life and career
Jaber’s literary work deals with the past and present of Eritrea, its
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
and the wider
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
. His novel ''Black Foam,'' based on real events, tells the fictional story of a group of
Ethiopian Jews
The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...
, who emigrate to
Israel to escape poverty and in search of a better life.
In 2023, it was published in an English translation by Sawad Hussain and Marcia Lynx Qualey.
Jaber lives in
Doha,
Qatar, and works as a journalist for
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
. He has also taught courses for
creative writing at the Al Jazeera Media Institute. In an interview with
ArabLit
''ArabLit'' is an online magazine for information about translations of Arabic literature into English. The editors also publish ''ArabLit Quarterly'' as a print and electronic magazine, books with selected contemporary Arabic literary works and ...
magazine, he said:
Works
* ''Samrawit'' (2012), winner of the
Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2012.
* ''Fatma's Harbour'' (2013), translated into Italian.
* ''The Spindle'' ''Game'' (2015), longlisted for the 2016
Sheikh Zayed Book Award .
* ''Black Foam'' (2018), winner of the Katara Novel Prize in 2019, and longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
*''The Abyssinian Rimbaud'' (2021).
References
External links
An excerpt from Haji Jaber’s ‘The Spindle Game' in English translation
A chapter from the novel ''Black Foam,'' translated by Nancy Roberts
Eritrean writers
1976 births
Living people
21st-century Arabic-language writers
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