An Open Letter in Support of Adania Shibli From More Than 350 Writers, Editors, and Publishers

This letter was originally published by ArabLit.

The shocking and tragic events that began on October 7th and are ongoing today have had repercussions all over the globe, including within the publishing world. Award-winning Palestinian author Adania Shibli, who was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for her book Minor Detail (New Directions/Fitzcarraldo, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette), was to receive Germany’s 2023 LiBeraturpreis for the same book, published in German as Eine Nebensache (Berenberg Verlag, translated by Günther Orth) at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, which begins this week.

On October 13, the organizers of the prize, Litprom, which is funded in part by the German government and the Frankfurt Book Fair, released a statement saying that the prize-giving ceremony would no longer take place at the book fair.

In addition, a public discussion with Adania Shibli and her translator Günther Orth at the book fair has also been canceled.

The statement originally said that this decision had been made in accordance with the author’s wishes, which was then relayed, without verification, by an article in The New York Times (now corrected). This is untrue; Adania Shibli has said the decision was not made with her, she was presented with the decision. If the ceremony were to have gone ahead, she said, she would have taken the opportunity to reflect on the role of literature in these cruel and painful times. (Litprom and The New York Times have since made corrections.)

Shibli’s US publisher, Barbara Epler of New Directions, wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Times, which we excerpt here:

With the unbelievable heartbreak that is now being suffered on all sides, it serves no one to put forward falsehoods, especially about the author of a novel about the Nakba that is so historically true.

To cancel the ceremony and so try to silence the voice of Adania Shibli —“due to the war in Israel”—is cowardly.

But to say Shibli agreed (amid all the suffering in Gaza) is worse.

At a time when the fair has issued a statement saying it wants to make Israeli voices “especially visible at the fair,” they are closing out the space for a Palestinian voice.

While Shibli’s Minor Detail has been smeared as being anti-Semitic by two journalists and literary editors, other serious literary critics have clearly refuted this in the German press and elsewhere. The book makes reference to well-documented events related to the rape of a Bedouin girl in 1949 by an Israeli army unit.

Shibli’s UK publisher, Jacques Testard of Fitzcarraldo, writes, “One of the purposes of literature is to encourage understanding and dialogue between cultures. At a time of such horrific violence and heartbreak, the world’s biggest book fair has a duty to champion literary voices from Palestine and Israel. We stand in solidarity with Adania Shibli and her German publishers, Berenberg Verlag.”

In this spirit, those of us involved in writing, translation, and publishing strongly assert that canceling cultural events is not the way forward. We recall the Frankfurt book fair supporting Turkish publishers, and how last year Ukrainian president Zelensky spoke to the fair in a pre-recorded address. The Frankfurt Book Fair has a responsibility, as a major international book fair, to be creating spaces for Palestinian writers to share their thoughts, feelings, reflections on literature through these terrible, cruel times, not shutting them down.

We need to look for new language and new ideas in order to approach these bleak times in a new way. For this, we need writers—including Palestinian writers—more than ever.

—ArabLit

*

MINOR DETAIL TEAM

Rana Idriss, Dar al-Adab, Arabic publisher of Minor Detail

Ana Paula Hisayama, Todavia, Brazilian publisher of Minor Detail

Chris de Jong, Koppernik, publisher of Minor Detail in the Netherlands

Daniel Álvarez, Hoja de Lata Editorial, Spanish publisher of Minor Detail

Laura Sandoval, publisher, Hoja de Lata Editorial, Asturies

Djûke Poppinga, Dutch translator of Minor Detail

Elisabeth Jaquette, English translator of Minor Detail

Elisabetta Sgarbi, publisher, La Nave di Teseo, Italian publisher of Minor Detail

Günther Orth, German translator of Minor Detail

Salvador Peña Martín, Spanish translator of Minor Detail

Safa Jubran, Brazilian Portuguese translator of Minor Detail

Jonathan Morén, Swedish translator of Minor Detail

Farouk Mardam-Bey, Actes Sud/Sindbad, French publisher of Minor Detail

Halfdan Freihow, Cappelen Damm, publisher of Minor Detail in Norway

Jacques Testard, Fitzcarraldo, UK publisher of Minor Detail

Johannes Holmqvist, Tranan, publisher of Minor Detail in Sweden

Mehmet Hakkı Suçin, Turkish translator of Minor Detail

Michael Heyward, Publisher, The Text Publishing Company, Australia and New Zealand publisher of Minor Detail

Monica Ruocco, Italian translator of Minor Detail

Penny Hueston, Senior Editor, The Text Publishing Company, Australia and New Zealand publisher of Minor Detail

Şirin Etik, managing editor, Canyayinlari, Turkish publisher of Minor Detail

Stefanos Batsis of Plithos, Greek publisher of Minor Detail

Stéphanie Dujols, French translator of Minor Detail

PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS

Simona Gabrieli, publisher Alifbata

Joyelle McSweeney and Johannes Göransson, editors, Action Books

Stefan Tobler, publisher, And Other Stories

Tara Tobler, senior editor, And Other Stories

Michael Watson, UK Publicist, And Other Stories

María Rán Guðjónsdóttir, publisher, Angústúra

Jill Schoolman, publisher, Archipelago Books

Gianni Schilardi, publisher, Argo Editrice, Italian publisher of Sensi (Touch) and of the collection of short stories Pallidi segni di quiete 

Askold Melnyczuk, editor, Arrowsmith Press

Diane Mehta, poet, Arrowsmith Press

Brian Lam, publisher, Arsenal Pulp Press

Rachel Levitsky, publisher, Belladonna* Collaborative

Jan Marti, publisher, Blackie Books

Neil Astley, editor & managing director, Bloodaxe Books Ltd

Francisco Vilhena, translator and managing editor, Bloomsbury

Kevin Duffy, publisher, Bluemoose Books

Hazel Millar, co-publisher, Book*hug Press

Gavin Everall, director, publishing, Book Works

Jamie Byng, publisher, Canongate Books

Kendall Store, editor-in-chief Catapult Books

Mark Haber, Director of Marketing, Coffee House Press

Jeremy M. Davies, Executive Editor, Coffee House Press

Ra Page and Basma Ghalayini, publishers, Comma Press

Farhana Shaikh, publisher, Dahlia Books

Firoze Manji, Daraja Press

Marigold Atkey, publisher Daunt Books

Noah M. Mintz, marketing coordinator, Deep Vellum

Sarah McEachern, Rights Director, Deep Vellum

David Richardson, editor, dispersed holdings

Monika Lustig van Diesen, Publisher Edition Converso, Karlsruhe / Germany

Stephan Trudewind, publisher, Edition Orient, Berlin

Mylène Bouchard, Literary director, Editions La Peuplade

Martina Testa, Edizioni SUR, Italy

John Hatt, Eland Books

Eugene Lim, publisher, Ellipsis Press

Kenza Sefrioui, editor, En Toutes Lettres, Morocco

Emmie Francis, editor at Faber and Faber

Tiziana Triana, editor-in-chief of Fandango Libri, (Rome)

Fabio Muzi Falconi, editor, Feltrinelli

Sasha, Achille and Renae, publishers, 5ever Books

Nii Ayikwei Parkes, writer, publisher, flipped eye publishing

Simón Vázquez, publisher Ediciones Akal, Spain

Ariadna Akal, publisher Ediciones Akal, Spain

Esther Prieto, publisher Trabe Editorial, Asturies

Samuel Castro, publisher Trabe Editorial, Asturies

Zacarías Lara, publisher Barrett Editorial, Spain

Manuel Burraco, publisher Barrett Editorial, Spain

Ana Roza, publisher Delallama Editorial, Asturies

Daniel Moreno, publisher Capitán Swing, Spain

Laura Huerga, publisher Raig Verd Editorial, Catalonia

Almudena Cardeñoso, publisher Duermevela Editorial, Asturies

Rebeca Cardeñoso, publisher, Duermevela Editorial, Asturies

Hassan Ali, Faber Factory Manager, Faber & Faber

Tamara Sampey-Jawad, Associate Publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions

Donatella Ianuzzi, publisher, Gallo Nero Editorial, Spain

Daniel Osca, publisher Sajalín Editores, Catalonia

Seif Salmawy, publisher, Al Karma Publishers

Mikel Buldain, publisher Txalaparta Liburuak, Basque Country

Garazi Arrula, editor Txalaparta Liburuak, Basque Country

Ane Eslava editor Txalaparta Liburuak, Basque Country

Kishani Widyaratna, publisher, 4th Estate

Alan Giagnocavo, CEO and publisher, Fox Chapel Publishing

Dan Machlin, executive editor, Futurepoem

Barbara Schwepcke, publisher, Gingko Books

Jason Arthur, Associate Publishing Director, Granta Books

Ethan Nosowsky, Graywolf Press

Federica Manzon, writer, editorial director of the Italian publishing house Guanda

Ami Tian, Hachette Book Group

Julie Fain, publisher, Haymarket Books

Beatrice Merz, director of hopefulmonster publishing house

Michel S. Moushabeck, publisher, Interlink Publishing

Norm Nehmetallah, publisher, Invisible Publishing

Andrea Morstabilini, editor, Iperborea

Cristina Gerosa, editorial director, Iperborea

Marco Agosta, Iperborea

Pietro Biancardi, publisher, Iperborea

Hazal Baydur, foreign rights, İthaki Yayınları

Helena Cobban, CEO, Just World Books

Emily Dewhurst, Kitchen Press

Nasim Mawji, Kitchen Press

Karam Youssef, publisher, Al Kotob Khan for Publishing

Lorenzo Ribaldi, publisher, La Nuova Frontiera – Italy

Maria Leonardi, acquiring editor, La Nuova Frontiera

Simón Vázquez, Manifest Llibres, Catalonia

E. Tracy Grinnell, publisher, Litmus Press

Adrian and Gracie Cooper, publishers, Little Toller Books and Pineapple Lane

Adam Shatz, writer, US editor of The London Review of Books

Brian Lewis, publisher, Longbarrow Press

Alexandre Sanchez, Lux Éditeur

Katharina Bielenberg, Publisher, MacLehose Press

Yara El Ghadban, author and editor, Mémoire d’encrier, Montréal

Anita Magno, editor, Mesogea, Italy

Abid Nouri, Med Ali editions (Tunisie)

Müge Sökmen, Metis Publishers

Daniel Slager, publisher & CEO, Milkweed Editions

Valeria Bergalli, publisher, Minúscula

Laura di Pietro, Editora Tabla, Brazil

Archna Sharma, publisher, Neem Tree Press

Jeffrey Yang, editor, New Directions

Tynan Kogane, senior editor, New Directions

Edwin Frank, editor, New York Review Books

Susan Barba, senior editor, New York Review Books

Susan C Wilson, writer

Stephen Motika, director & publisher, Nightboat Books

Azadeh Parsapour, Nogaam publishing

Andrea Gessner, publisher Nottetempo

Judith Gurewich, publisher, Other Press

John Oakes, OR Books

Zainab Juma, Head of Brand, Penguin Books UK

Kaliane Bradley, writer and commissioning editor at Penguin Press

Mary Mount, publisher, Picador

Richard Porter, editor, Pilot Press

Neda Tehrani, commissioning editor, Pluto Press

Ramsey Kanaan, publisher, PM Press

Kyle Dacuyan, Executive Director of The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s

Valentina Parlato, foreign rights QUODLIBET publishing house, Italy

Severino Antonelli, Rizzoli foreign fiction editor, Italy

Kapil Kapoor, Managing Director, Roli Books, India

James Sherry, editor, Roof Books

Lynn Gaspard, publisher Saqi Books

Elizabeth Briggs, Editorial Director, Saqi Books

Sara Hunt, publisher, Saraband

Naveen Kishore, publisher, Seagull Books

Mohamed El-Baaly, Sefsafa Publishing (Egypt)

Hedi El Kholti, publisher, Semiotext(e)

Dan Simon, publisher, Seven Stories Press

Allison Tamarkin Paller, Seven Stories Press

Tal Mancini, Seven Stories Press

James Webster, Seven Stories Press

Sarah Shin, Director, Silver Press

Kristen Vida Alfaro, director, Tilted Axis Press

Nuzhat Abbas, publisher/director of trace press

Adam Levy, publisher, Transit Books

Ashley Nelson Levy, publisher, Transit Books

Michael Holtmann, Center for the Art of Translation | Two Lines Press

CJ Evans, editor in chief, Two Lines Press

Anna Moschovakis, Ugly Duckling Presse

Daniel Owen, Ugly Duckling Presse

Kyra Simone, Ugly Duckling Presse

Lee Norton, Ugly Duckling Presse

Marine Cornuet, Ugly Duckling Presse

Michael Newton, Ugly Duckling Presse

Milo Wippermann, Ugly Duckling Presse

Rebekah Smith, Ugly Duckling Presse

Serena Solin, Ugly Duckling Presse

Silvina Lopez Medin, Ugly Duckling Presse

Yelena Gluzman, Ugly Duckling Presse

Aliya Gulamani, Commissioning Editor at Unbound

Leo Hollis, Verso Books, London

Tim Thomas, Verso Books, NYC

Ritu Menon, publisher, Women Unlimited

Ayrıntı Yayınları Publishing House, Turkey

Ellah P. Wakatama, publisher and literary critic

AGENTS, MEDIA & LITERARY JOURNALS & LITERARY FESTIVALS

Nicole Aragi, literary agent, Aragi Inc.

Christine Tohmeh, Director of Ashkal Alwan

Samar Hammam, Rocking Chair Book Literary Agency

Yasmine Jraissati, literary agent, RAYA Agency

Laura Susijn, literary agent, The Susijn Agency Ltd

Iwalani Kim, literary agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates

Rasha Salti, Commissioning Editor, Arte France

Léopold Lambert, editor-in-chief, The Funambulist

Rima Rantisi, Editor, Rusted Radishes

Christopher Merrill, Director, International Writing Program, The University of Iowa

Yasemin Çongar, founder, Istanbul Literature House

Olivia Maidment, literary agent, Madeleine Milburn Agency

Akin Akinwumi, founder, Willenfield Literary Agency

Jeffrey Pethybridge, poet, Director, Summer Writing Program, Naropa University

Zeina Maasri academic (UK) and editor @ Journal of Visual Culture

John Freeman, editor, Freeman’s

Peter Straus, RCW Literary Agency

Laurence Laluyaux, RCW Literary Agency

Safae El-Ouahabi, Associate, RCW Literary Agency

Anna Soler-Pont, Pontas literary and film agency

Merve Diler, Kalem Agency

Nermin Mollaoğlu, founder, Kalem Agency

Ayser Ali, Ayser Ali Agency

Hans Petter Bakketeig, Stilton Literary Agency, Norway

Pierre Astier, Laure Pécher, Astier-Pécher Literary Agency

Angelique Tran Van Sang, Felicity Bryan Associates

Sana Goyal, Deputy Editor, Wasafiri magazine

Emily Mercer, Editor and Publishing Director, Wasafiri magazine

Jessica Craig, Craig Literary Agency

Maddalena Vaglio Tanet, author and scout at De Stefano Literary Scouting

Maria Moschioni, literary scout

Brianna Zimmerman | Senior Scout Mary Anne Thompson Associates

Bhakti Shringarpure, writer & editor, co-founder of Radical Books Collective

Chiara Comito, Editoriaraba and Arabpop

Jim Hicks, executive editor, The Massachusetts Review

Nausikaa Angelotti, editor, Specimen

Vanni Bianconi, writer, editor at Specimen

Valentina Parlato, foreign rights, QUODLIBET

Lydia Wilson, editor New Lines magazine

Negar Azimi, writer, and editor-in-chief, Bidoun

Anna Della Subin, author and editor, Bidoun

Alexandra Büchler, Literature Across Frontiers

Sina Najafi, Editor-in-chief of Cabinet: A Magazine of Art and Culture

William Pierce, writer and co editor of AGNI

Shuchi Saraswat, writer and Senior Editor at AGNI 

Matvei Yankelevich, editor, World Poetry Books

Marcia Lynx Qualey, founder Arablit and Arablit Quarterly

Mairi Oliver, owner, Lighthouse Bookshop, Edinburgh

Nadia Saeed, Translation and International Officer, English PEN

Rick Simonson, Elliott Bay Book Company

Rafel Arias, bookseller

Guillermo Granado, bookseller

Oriol Díaz, bookseller

Verónica Piñera, bookseller

Luis Gallego, bookseller

Mahmoud Muna, Educational Bookshop, Jerusalem

Ángel de la Calle, Illustrator and Semana Negra Literary Festival Director, Spain

Paloma Saiz, Zócalo International Book Fair Director, Mexico

Kholod Saghir, Artistic Director, Uppsala International literary festival, Sweden

Windy Ariestanty, patjarmerah, the traveling literacy festival and book market, Indonesia

Louise Adler, director, Adelaide Writers’ Week

Ilke Froyen, Director Passa Porta International Festival of Literature

Pierce Alquist, director, Transnational Literature Series

WRITERS, EDITORS, ACADEMICS & ARTISTS

Khalid Abdalla, actor

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, critic

Abdulrazak Gurnah, author

Annie Ernaux, author

Sophie Mackintosh, author

Olga Tokarczuk, author

Xiaolu Guo, author and filmmaker

Julia Armfield, author

Anne Enright, author

Valeria Luiselli, author

Evie Wyld, author

Simone Buchholz, novelist, Germany

Noreen Masud, author

Nadifa Mohamed, author

Juliet Jacques, writer and filmmaker

Deepa Anappara, author

Pankaj Mishra, author

Etan Nechin, writer

Heather Parry, author

John McGregor, author

Mohammed El-Kurd, writer

Nikesh Shukla, author

Edmund Gordon, author

Dur e Aziz Amna, author

Jenna Clake, author

Wajdi al-Ahdal, author

Shannon Chakraborty, author

Samuel Fisher, author

Emily Kenway, author

Jay Gao, author

Rabih Alameddine, author

Jay Bernard, writer

Katie Goh, author

Niamh Campbell, author

Yan Ge, author

Tawseef Khan, author

Roisin Dunnet, author

Kit Fan, author

Kathryn Bromwich, author

Eliza Clark, author

Jared Daniel Fagen, author

Sarah Bernstein, writer

Tatiana Salem Levy, author

Daniel Trilling, author

Sarah Bernstein, author

Annalena McAfee, author

Sinead Gleeson, author

Elaine Feeney, author

Megan Nolan, author

Francesca Wade, author

Alice Slater, author

Sarvat Hasin, author

Alycia Pirmohamed, author

Mathelinda Nabugodi, author

Maaza Mengiste, author

Kamila Shamsie, author

Wallace Shawn, actor and playwright

Rosie Bsheer, Associate Professor of History, Harvard University

William Dalrymple, author

Fatima Bhutto, author

Isabella Hammad, novelist

Gillian Slovo, novelist and playwright

Colm Tóibín author

Tim Winton, author

Olga Ravn, author

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, author

Don Mee Choi, poet

Haytham El-Wardany, author

Philippe Sands, author

Hisham Matar, author

Ahdaf Soueif, author

Rawi Hage, author

Yasmine Seale, translator

Naomi Shihab Nye, poet

Molly Crabapple, author and artist

Leila Aboulela, writer

Naomi Klein, author

Judith Butler, author

Eliot Weinberger, writer

K Patrick, poet and writer

Seán Hewitt, author

Jason Okundaye, author

Aidan Cottrell Boyce, author

Ryan Gilbey, author

Paul Bailey, author

Ali Millar, author

Maxine Peake, author and actor

Madeleine Thien, author

Caryl Churchill, playwright

Ben Ehrenreich, author

Sunny Singh, writer

James Schamus, film producer, director, and screenwriter

Hassan Abdulrazzak, playwright

Yasmin El-Rifae, writer

Marina Warner, author

Richard Flanagan, author

Robert Neuwirth, writer

Barbara Ofosu-Somuah, translator

Anton Shammas, author

Saleem Haddad, author

Samar Yazbek, author

Adam Thirlwell, author

Mohamed Kheir, author

Hari Kunzru, author

Ammiel Alcalay, poet and scholar

Solmaz Sharif, poet

Françoise Vergès, writer, producer, and scholar

Nicholas Blincoe, author

Monisha Rajesh, author

Mazen Maarouf, author

Anne Boyer, poet and essayist

Semih Gümüş, author

Daisy Lafarge, author

Kia Corthron, U.S. novelist and playwright

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Professor of Modern Culture & Media and Comparative Literature, Brown University

Elias Sanbar, writer, essayist and translator of Mahmoud Darwish to French

Mohammad Al Attar, Syrian writer / playwright

Ahmet Nesin, writer

Sarah Riggs, poet, co-director of Tamaas

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, professor emeritus and author

Eyal Weizman, author and architect

Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Trinidadian-Scottish poet and prose writer

Sema Kaygusuz, author

Eva Menasse, novelist, Berlin

Mirza Waheed, writer

Iman Mersal, poet and writer

Zahra Moloo, journalist

Suzanne Joinson, author

Rani Selvarajah, author

Sharon Duggal, writer

Geo Maher, writer and educator

Rodrigo Hasbún, author

Laila Hourani, Palestinian/Syrian novelist

Courttia Newland, author

Jacqueline Feldman, writer

Julia Bell, author

Gregory Norminton, author

Jude Brown, novelist

Alexander Chee, author