Ibrahim Nasrallah to release new trilogy of novels

CAIRO – 14 June 2018: Palestinian – Jordanian author Ibrahim Nasrallah will release a new trilogy of novels in April 2019, which coincides with the tercentennial anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

Nasrallah told Egypt Today that the trilogy will include "A Tank under the Christmas Tree", "Eye Light" and "Shades of Keys", tackling the incidents in 1917 from the escalation of the Zionist onslaught to the end of the first the uprising (Intifada).
Nasrallah won the 11th International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) on April 24, along with $50,000, for his novel “The Second War of the Dog”.

During a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, “The Second War of the Dog” was chosen by the judges of IPAF, the most prestigious annual Arab award for novel-writing, as the best work of fiction published between July 2016 and June 2017. Nasrallah was also awarded $50,000, in addition to the translation of his novel into English.

The novel beat out five other shortlisted novels from Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Palestine, which were also honored during the ceremony, each receiving $10,000.

“The Second War of the Dog” revolves around the main character, Rashid, who changes throughout the novel from an opponent of the regime to a dangerous extremist. Through his novel, Nasrallah highlights the human capacity for savagery.

Announcing the winner, Ibrahim Al-Saafin, chairman of the jury, said that this novel, published by Arab Scientific Publishers, could tackle political, humanitarian and social issues in societies through using unique techniques drawn from fantasy and science fiction.

“With humor and insight, it exposes the tendency towards brutality inherent in society, imagining a time where human and moral values have been discarded and anything is permissible, even buying and selling of human souls,” Saafin said during the ceremony, according to the IPAF website.

In the same context, Nasrallah noted that the novel was written to make readers interact with its incidents by provoking and worrying them.

“‘The Second War of the Dog’ is, in my opinion, a warning of what we could become in the future… The novel starts off at the moment of a loss of certainty; that loss of trust in those whom you closely interact with – that neighbor, brother, father or whoever it may be,” he noted.