Diaa Jubaili

Diaa Jubaili (Arabic: ضياء جبيلي, (Ḍīya Jubaylī); born 23 May 1977) is an Iraqi novelist and writer from the city of Basra.

Diaa Jubaili
Born (1977-05-23) 23 May 1977
Basra
OccupationWriter
Nationality Iraqi
Notable works
  • No Windmills in Basra
  • What To Do Without Calvino?
  • "The Worker" in Iraq + 100
  • "The Darwinist" in Strange Horizons
Notable awards
  • Al-Multaqa Prize for Arabic Short Fiction (2018)
  • Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing (2017)
  • Dubai Culture Award (2007)

Biography

Diaa was born in Iraq in 1977 in the city of Basra, where he is permanently based.[1] He became a writer and novelist in an environment which did not afford him a traditional education[2] and also writes articles about life in Iraq.[3] An extensive reading of Western literature is an influence on his work.[4] In his fiction writing, he focuses on questions of identity in Iraq as well as the tension between religion and nationalism.[5]

Diaa has won literary awards for his writing in Arabic. In 2017, he won the seventh annual Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing for his novel What To Do Without Calvino?.[6] His short story collection, No Windmills in Basra, won the 2018 Al Multaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story. The large prize purse of USD$20,000 is to encourage the short story genre in the Arab world.[7]

Bibliography in Arabic

Diaa has released eight novels and three short story collections in Arabic.

Novels/Novellas
  • 2007: Curse of the Marquis (لعنة ماركيز Lʿanat Mārkīz)
  • 2009: The Ugly Face of Vincent (novella) (وجه فنسنت القبيح Wajh Finsint Alqabīḥ)
  • 2011: Bogeys, the Bizarre (novella) (بوغيز العجيب Būġīz il-ʿajīb)
  • 2014: General Stanley Maude's Souvenir (تذكار الجنرال ستانلي مود Taḏkār il-jinrāl sitānlī mawd)
  • 2016: The Lion of Basra (أسد البصرة ʾasad il-baṣra)
  • 2017: The Cloven Man: Six Ways of Crossing Borders Illegally on the Way to Baghdad (المشطور, ست طرائق غير شرعية لاجتياز الحدود نحو بغداد Al-mašṭūr, sittu ṭarāʾiq ġayr šarʿiyya liʾitiyaz il-ḥudūd naḥu baġdād)
  • 2018: Name Upon the Hollow, (الاسم على الأخمص Al-ʾism ʿalā al-ʾaxmaṣ)
  • 2019: Horse Cannon (ساق الفرس Sāq ul-faras)

Short story collections
  • 2017: Widows' Garden, (حديقة الأرامل Ḥadīqat ul-ʾarāmil)
  • 2017: What To Do Without Calvino?, (ماذا نفعل بدون كالفينو Māḏā nafʿalu bidūn kālfīnū)
  • 2018: No Windmills in Basra, (لا طواحين هواء في البصرة Lā ṭawāḥīn hawaʾ fīl-baṣra)

Articles
  • 2018 Sep 13, "Pollution and corruption are choking the life out of Basra", The Guardian
  • Diaa has other articles written in Arabic.

English translations
  • "The Worker" in the short story anthology Iraq +100. Translated by Andrew Leber. Comma Press. 17 November 2016. ISBN 978-1-905-58366-9.
  • "The Darwinist", short story published in Strange Horizons. Translated by Alexander Hong. Strange Horizons Magazine. 30 October 2017.
  • The Cloven Man novel excerpt in Banipal, issue #61. Translated by Yasmeen Hanoosh. Banipal Magazine of Modern Arabic Literature. 2018.
  • "The Scarecrow" in the short story collection No Windmills in Basra. Translated by Yasmeen Hanoosh. ArabLit Quarterly. Spring 2019.

Awards and honours
  • 2007:  UAE Dubai Magazine Award for Curse of the Marquis
  • 2017:  Sudan Tayeb Salih International Award for Creative Writing for the short story collection Widows' Garden, (Arabic: جائزة الطيب صالح العالمية لإبداع الكتابي)
  • 2018:  Kuwait Al Multaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story for No Windmills in Basra, (Arabic: جائزة الملتقى للقصة القصيرة العربية)

In 2018, the short story collection No Windmills in Basra won the Al-Multaqa Prize for the Arabic short story.[8] This is a description from the report of the Al-Multaqa Prize Jury: "The stories in Diaa Jubaili's collection vary in length from the very short to very long. They deal with the subjects of war by moving between reality and fantasy. With a sarcasm-laced narrative, he transforms the subject of war into a major introspective exercise on the significance of absurdity, nihilism, and a genuine desire to overcome the futility of death. The stories provide a reflection on the three wars of Iraq: the Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003 American invasion, which set off a wave of extremism that is choking the country to this day."[9]

References
  1. "Sci-fi stories envisage Iraq in 100 years". BBC News. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  2. Jubaili, Diaa (18 November 2016). "Iraq + 100: Diaa Jubaili on short stories and life in Basra (Part 1)". Comma Press Blog (Interview). Interviewed by Heather Sharp, BBC. Comma Press. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  3. "Pollution and corruption are choking the life out of Basra". The Guardian. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  4. "'More story writers in Basra than even in Baghdad'". Your Middle East. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  5. "رواية "أسد البصرة".. عن شخصية العراق الضائعة". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 17 July 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. "ضياء جبيلي.. جائزة وثلاثة كتب". Ultra Sawt (in Arabic). 27 February 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  7. "New Arabic short story prize meets with cautious welcome". The Guardian. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  8. "'Diaa Jubaili Wins 2018 Almultaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story'". ArabLit Quarterly. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  9. "ضياء جبيلي؛ "لا طواحين هواء في البصرة" يحصد جائزة الملتقى للقصة القصيرة العربية في دورة "إسماعيل فهد إسماعيل" 2017/2018" (in Arabic). Al Multaqa Prize. Retrieved 2 October 2019.

Further reading
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