Jamal Naji
Encyclopedia
Jamal Naji (born 1954) is a Jordan
ian author of Palestinian
origin. He was born in 1954 in the refugee camp
of Aqbat Jaber in the West Bank
. He moved to Jordan
in 1967, when he was in his early teens.
Naji began writing in his early twenties, and published his first novel The Road to Balharith in 1981-82. Since then he has written several more novels as well as short story collections and television scripts. His recent novel When the Wolves Grow Old was shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2010.
He was president of the Jordanian Writers Association from 2001 to 2003. He lives and works in Amman
, Jordan.
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian author of Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
origin. He was born in 1954 in the refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
of Aqbat Jaber in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. He moved to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
in 1967, when he was in his early teens.
Naji began writing in his early twenties, and published his first novel The Road to Balharith in 1981-82. Since then he has written several more novels as well as short story collections and television scripts. His recent novel When the Wolves Grow Old was shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize in 2010.
He was president of the Jordanian Writers Association from 2001 to 2003. He lives and works in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan.