Jokha Alharthi, an Omani author, won on Wednesday the Man Booker International prize for her novel Celestial Bodies. Alharthi became the first Arab woman writer to get this prize.
"It's a sensitive subject and kind of a taboo," the Omani author said in an interview. "I think literature is the best platform to discuss sensitive issues, and slavery is not exclusive to Oman. It's part of human history," she added.
[caption id="attachment_52564" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Omani Woman Jokha Alharthi [/caption]
Who is Jokha Alharthi
Alharthi, who got her PhD in Classical Arabic Literature from Edinburgh University, is an Omani writer and academic. She wrote about three novels; “Narinjah,” “Sayyidat al-Qamar,” and “Manamat." Overall, she published ten books.
The academic writer published three collections of short stories and another collection of poems.
[caption id="attachment_52573" align="alignnone" width="976"] Jokha Alharthi with translator Marilyn Booth[/caption]
People on social media platforms interacted with the prize by sharing videos and photos of Alharthi on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/VictoriaWeavil/status/1131105145167785984
https://twitter.com/kdrastegar/status/1131003784061181958
https://twitter.com/KhalifaAlharthy/status/1130986834115403776
https://twitter.com/bookishmuslim/status/1130967002636529664
https://twitter.com/__sara_18/status/1130954006354944001
https://twitter.com/k_a_farrell/status/1130943054091829249
https://twitter.com/TrudaSpruyt/status/1130940168666537986
https://twitter.com/lonesomereader/status/1130935991068438528