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  • Welcome to ALT Magazine & Press: Hazawi Prize Announces 2023 Shortlist: (Sana'a, Yemen) - The shortlist for the 2023 Hazawi Prize for Yemeni Literature has been revealed, announcing the ten writers who have been selected as finalists for this prestigious award.
  • Now in its second yearly round, the Hazawi Prize recognizes exceptional contributions to fiction in Yemeni literature. Organized by the Hazawi Cultural Foundation, this annual prize aims to promote Yemeni literature and support creative writers.
  • This year's shortlist features both emerging and renowned Yemeni authors. The ten works advancing to the final round of judging are:
  • - Abdullah Faisal shortlisted for his novel, Spirits and Secrets.
  • - Aisha Saleh shortlisted for her novel, Under the Ashes
  • - Farouk Merish shortlisted for his novel, A Dignified Stranger
  • - Ahmed Ashraf shortlisted for his novel, A Painful Belt
  • - Ghassan Khalid shortlisted for his novel, A Sky that Rains Fear
  • - Hosam Adel shortlisted for his novel, The Lord of the Black Dog
  • - Asmaa Abdulrazak shortlisted for her novel, Shrapnels
  • - Abdullah Abdu Muhammad shortlisted for his novel, The Road to Sana'a
  • - Najah Bahkeim shortlisted for her novel, The Final Decision
  • - Samir AbdulFattah shortlisted for her novel, What We Cannot See
  • The winner will be revealed at an award ceremony in Sana'a later where they will receive $1,500 USD. Second and third prizes of $1,000 USD each will also be awarded. All shortlisted works are celebrated for chronicling Yemen's rich culture and wartime experiences. This prestigious prize continues highlighting the nation's thriving literary community.

The Garment of a Lonely Birth

 

The Garment of a Lonely Birth

 

by Eman Al-Saeedi

translated by Hatem Al-Shamea

 

The Garment of a Lonely Birth

 

To my dear homeland.

 

Do not wear out the garment of our only birth..

Thus,

I imagine my one true friend whispering in my ear.

My friend,

Whose heart distances have adorned,

Wears anxiety.

It wears him, but in his heart the poem did not sleep.

 

Do you know, my friend,

How existence and end unite?

How has life wasted its dew cloistered in the monastery of life?

I, my friend,

Am a death bound by life.

An intermediate life of wretched anticipation.

 

Seriously,

I think to send you a picture of a coffin,

And a thorny linguistic field.

 

I didn’t tell you before,

That I ignited embers on my lips,

And cried long with the melting moon.

I didn’t tell you,

That in the moment I dread recalling,

Whiteness overwhelms my vision.

 

So how can I return cheerful after my torments?

Oh my friend,

What agony resides me?

What stubborn tear suspects me?

And what textual message is this standing at my door since

The unknown was shut to my supplications?

 

Where are the laughs that were moons here?

And the talks that courted my youth about the old age of years?

Where did I find you, my friend?

My path is long,

And I have no candle, and no homeland.

 

A New Home – Nabila Al-Sheikh – trans. Hatem Al-Shamea

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