Khaled Khalifa
Encyclopedia
Khaled Khalifa is a Syria
n novelist, screenwriter
and poet
, born 1964 in Aleppo
. His 2006 novel In Praise of Hatred (Madih al-Karahiya) has attracted worldwide media attention. It was a finalist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction
, and has been banned in Syria. "In Praise of Hatred" has been published in French (Sindbad, Actes Sud, May 2011), Italian (Bompiani, May 2011), Dutch (De Geus, June 2011). Rights to this book have also been sold to Transworld (English, to appear), Lumen (Spanish, to appear), and Norwegian (Minuskel, to appear).
, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts
in law
. He wrote poetry and was a member of the Literary Forum there. As a screenwriter, Khalifa has written several television drama
s including Rainbow (Kaws Kozah) and Memoirs of Al-Jalali (Serat Al-Jalali), documentaries, short films, and the feature-length film The Shrine Door (Bab al-Maqam). His first novel, The Guard of Deception (Haris al-Khadi'a), was published in 1993. His second novel, The Gypsy Notebooks (Dafatir al-Qurbat), was suppressed by the Union of Arab Writers for four years after its publication in 2000.
Khalifa spent thirteen years working on In Praise of Hatred, his third novel, which is about how the lives of one family are affected by the battle
between the Syrian government and the Muslim Brotherhood
. It was published in Damascus
until the ban, when it was republished in Beirut
. Khalifa says these sort of book bans come from a bureaucracy which does not represent the higher levels of government, and he favors negotiation between artists and Syrian authorities to facilitate freedom of speech.
As of 2009, he is working on a fourth novel, Parallel Life (Hayat Muwaziya).
His work is not intended to advocate any political ideology. Discussing In Praise of Hatred, he said "above all, I wrote this novel in defense of the Syrian people and in order to protest against the suffering they have endured as a result of the religious and political dogmas that have tried to negate their ten-thousand-year civilisation."
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n novelist, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, born 1964 in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. His 2006 novel In Praise of Hatred (Madih al-Karahiya) has attracted worldwide media attention. It was a finalist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction
International Prize for Arabic Fiction
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is a literary prize managed in association with the Booker Prize Foundation in London, and supported by the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi. The prize is specifically for prose fiction by Arabic authors, along the lines of the Man Booker Prize...
, and has been banned in Syria. "In Praise of Hatred" has been published in French (Sindbad, Actes Sud, May 2011), Italian (Bompiani, May 2011), Dutch (De Geus, June 2011). Rights to this book have also been sold to Transworld (English, to appear), Lumen (Spanish, to appear), and Norwegian (Minuskel, to appear).
Biography
He attended the University of AleppoUniversity of Aleppo
University of Aleppo is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus....
, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. He wrote poetry and was a member of the Literary Forum there. As a screenwriter, Khalifa has written several television drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s including Rainbow (Kaws Kozah) and Memoirs of Al-Jalali (Serat Al-Jalali), documentaries, short films, and the feature-length film The Shrine Door (Bab al-Maqam). His first novel, The Guard of Deception (Haris al-Khadi'a), was published in 1993. His second novel, The Gypsy Notebooks (Dafatir al-Qurbat), was suppressed by the Union of Arab Writers for four years after its publication in 2000.
Khalifa spent thirteen years working on In Praise of Hatred, his third novel, which is about how the lives of one family are affected by the battle
Hama massacre
The Hama massacre occurred in February 1982, when the Syrian army, under the orders of the president of Syria Hafez al-Assad, conducted a scorched earth policy against the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Sunni Muslim community against the regime of al-Assad...
between the Syrian government and the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. It was published in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
until the ban, when it was republished in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
. Khalifa says these sort of book bans come from a bureaucracy which does not represent the higher levels of government, and he favors negotiation between artists and Syrian authorities to facilitate freedom of speech.
As of 2009, he is working on a fourth novel, Parallel Life (Hayat Muwaziya).
His work is not intended to advocate any political ideology. Discussing In Praise of Hatred, he said "above all, I wrote this novel in defense of the Syrian people and in order to protest against the suffering they have endured as a result of the religious and political dogmas that have tried to negate their ten-thousand-year civilisation."