02-05-2025
'Dilshad' to be translated in English
Muscat: An Omani author who is very much in the news at the 29th Muscat International Book Fair is Bushra Khalfan.
Her novels have always been well received because of the quality of writing and the in-depth historical details of the Omani society.
Bushra is an Omani short story writer and novelist. She has been in the field of writing for 25 years.
Bushra's award-winning 'Dilshad' traces the story of one family through 20th-century Oman. The narration throws light on the untold stories of marginalised women. Her book titled 'Dilshad: The Biography of Hunger and Satiety' (2021) won her the Arabic Novel Award during the eighth edition of the award of the Cultural Village Foundation in Qatar, titled Katara Prize, in 2022. The plot revolves around the young native of Muscat, Dilshad. The story is based during the first half of the 20th century.
The 2024 volume is called 'Dilshad: Chronicle of Blood and Gold.' It builds on the success of the first book.
Qantara de writes, "Across the nearly 1000 pages in Arabic, the novel introduces over a hundred characters, each with unique linguistic, historical, educational and social backgrounds. These characters are vividly portrayed through the interconnected stories of Dilshad, his daughter Mariyam and his granddaughter Fareeda.
It is a story of struggles people face in lives for livelihood and to find a footing in the society, as is seen in Mariyam's life as she goes on to have her own business in Muttrah Souq.
'Dilshad' to be translated in English
Earlier, Asghar Ali Karni, Iranian writer and translator, had said that Buhra Khalfan's book, Dilshad has been translated into Persian.
At the Muscat International Book Fair 2025, Alice Guthrie, a British translator, editor, curator and event producer specialising in contemporary Arabic literature and media, was a guest speaker. She is in the process of translating Bushra Khalfan's novel into English for the publication of the book in the United States.
The publication in English is scheduled for 2027.
Speaking to Observer, she said, 'I am having a wonderful time translating it. All the historical details are fantastic: the characters, the linguistic diversity and all the wonderful secrets of Oman." Guthrie had read the book when it won the Katara prize in 2022. The book was also shortlisted in the same year for the International Prize in Arabic Fiction.
"I thought it was all interesting; I was coming to Oman anyway and so I got in touch with her; and she was friendly and welcoming. Eventually, we were lucky to have the funding from the Ministry of Information. And now we are in the process of translation," said Guthrie.
Alice Guthrie's translation of Gazan writer Atef Abu Saif's story, The Lottery, won the Jules Chametsky translation prize from the Massachusetts Review in 2019.
