PVPF 2024

More than 350 Writers, Editors, and Publishers Sign an Open Letter in Support of Adania Shibli

Explore the impact of global events on literature as Adania Shibli's work confronts challenges.
on Oct 19, 2023

"They are closing out the space for a Palestinian voice."

The stunning and sad events that began on October 7th and continue to this day have had ramifications all around the world, including in the publishing industry. Adania Shibli, a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Minor Detail (New Directions/Fitzcarraldo, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette), was set 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.

The prize's organizers, Litprom, which is partially supported by the German government and the Frankfurt Book Fair, announced on October 13 that the prize-giving ceremony will no longer take place during the book fair.

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

The statement previously said that this decision was made in accordance with the author's intentions, which was then relayed, without verification, by a New York Times piece (since corrected). This is false; Adania Shibli has stated that the decision was not made with her, but rather presented to her.

She stated that if the ceremony had gone forward, she would have used the opportunity to reflect on the significance of literature in these cruel and painful times. (Both Litprom and The New York Times have now corrected their errors.)

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

With the incredible pain that is currently being felt on all sides, it benefits no one to spread lies, especially concerning the author of a historically accurate novel about the Nakba.

Canceling the ceremony in order to stifle Adania Shibli's voice — "due to the war in Israel" — is cowardly. But to imply Shibli concurred (in the midst of all the suffering in Gaza) is even worse.

At a time when the fair has stated that it wants Israeli voices to be "especially visible at the fair," they are blocking out the place for a Palestinian voice.

While two journalists and literary editors have accused Shibli's Minor Detail of anti-Semitism, other respectable literary critics have clearly rejected this in the German press and abroad. The novel refers to well-documented events surrounding the rape of a Bedouin girl by an Israeli army unit in 1949.

"One of the purposes of literature is to encourage understanding and dialogue between cultures," adds Shibli's UK publisher, Jacques Testard of Fitzcarraldo. In this time of awful violence and loss, the world's largest book fair owes it to literary voices from Palestine and Israel. We support Adania Shibli and her German publishers, Berenberg Verlag."

In this spirit, those of us who work in writing, translation, and publishing strongly believe that canceling cultural events is not the way to go. We recall how the Frankfurt Book event supported Turkish publishers last year, and how Ukrainian President Zelensky delivered a pre-recorded address to the event. As a prominent international book show, the Frankfurt Book show has a responsibility to create spaces for Palestinian writers to convey their views, feelings, and reflections on literature during these horrible, cruel times, rather than closing them down.

We need to explore for fresh words and new ideas to help us deal with these difficult times. We need authors, including Palestinian writers, now more than ever.