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Der Spiegel: Over 600 writers and literary figures, including three Nobel laureates, have signed an open letter calling on the Frankfurt Book Fair to give more space to Palestinian voices. The letter comes in response to the postponement of a literary award that Palestinian author Adania Shibli was supposed to receive for her novel “Eine Nebensache.” The award will be given at a later date, not at the fair.
Prominent signatories of the letter include Nobel winners Abdulrazak Gurnah, Annie Ernaux, and Olga Tokarczuk, along with Ian McEwan, Judith Butler, and Eva Menasse. Contrary to initial claims by Litprom, the organization behind the award, the letter reveals that the postponement was not done in agreement with Shibli, who would have liked to attend the ceremony “to reflect on the role of literature in these horrendous and painful times.”
Jacques Testard, Shibli’s English publisher, is quoted as saying, “One of the purposes of literature is to encourage understanding and dialogue between cultures. In a time of such horrendous violence and terrible suffering, the world’s largest book fair has a duty to stand for literary voices from Palestine and Israel.”
Earlier, fair director Juergen Boos had emphasized the fair’s intent to make “Jewish and Israeli voices… particularly visible” amid events in Israel. The letter contends, “The Frankfurt Book Fair, as a significant international book fair, has the responsibility to create space for Palestinian writers to share their thoughts, feelings, and reflections on the role of literature in these terrible times— not to silence them.”
The entire article can be read at the link https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/frankfurter-buchmesse-offener-brief-fordert-mehr-raum-fuer-palaestinensische-stimmen-a-1588a71c-834e-48dc-9605-f681598f02c1
