Ibrāhīm al-Kōnī (sometimes translated as Ibrāhīm Kūnī) ( ar, ابراهيم الكوني) is a
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
n writer
and is considered to be one of the most prolific Arab novelists.
Biography
Born in 1948 in the
Fezzan Region, Ghadamis City, Ibrahim Kuni was brought up on the tradition of the
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...
, popularly known as "the veiled men" or "the blue men." Mythological elements, spiritual quest and existential questions mingle in the writings of Kuni who has been hailed as magical realist,
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
fabulist and poetic novelist.
He spent his childhood in the desert and learned to read and write Arabic when he was twelve. Kuni studied literature and journalism at the
Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow.
History
The insti ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and worked as a journalist in Moscow and Warsaw. He moved to Switzerland in 1993 and was living there as of 2011.
Works
By 2007, Kuni had published more than 80 books and received numerous awards. His books have been translated from their original Arabic into 35 languages. His novel ''Gold Dust'' appeared in English in 2008. In 2015, Kuni was shortlisted for the
Man Booker International Prize.
[ ]
Bibliography
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''
Anubis: A Desert Novel''. Translated by
William M. Hutchins
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''Gold Dust''. Translated by
Elliott Colla. London: Arabia Books, 2008.
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''The Animists''. Translated by
Elliott Colla.
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''The Bleeding of the Stone''. Translated by May Jayyusi and
Christopher Tingley
Christopher Tingley is an English academic and translator of Arabic literature. He was born in Brighton and read English at the University of London ( MPhil 1973) and at Leeds University, for many years lecturing in English and linguistics at vari ...
.
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''The Puppet''. Translated by
William M. Hutchins.
* Ibrahim Kuni, ''The Seven Veils of Seth''. Translated by
William M. Hutchins. Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing, 2008.
* Meinrad Calleja, "The Philosophy of Desert Metaphors in Ibrahim al-Koni - The Bleeding of the Stone', 2013, Faraxa Publishers
See also
*
The Bleeding of the Stone
*
Gold Dust (novel)
External links
"A Celebration of Ibrahim al-Koni, the Desert, Russian Literature, and 'Swiss Sufism'" from the blog Arabic Literature (in English)* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221718/http://faraxabooks.com/academic/ "Academic: The Philosophy of Desert Metaphors in Ibrahim al-Koni - The Bleeding of the Stone" from the blog Commentary/Information on Books of FARAXA Publishing House]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuni, Ibrahim
1948 births
Arabic-language novelists
Berber writers
Fabulists
Libyan journalists
Libyan novelists
Living people
Tuareg people
Male journalists
Male novelists
Libyan male writers
20th-century novelists
21st-century novelists
People from Fezzan
20th-century male writers
21st-century male writers
20th-century Libyan writers
21st-century Libyan writers