Hassouna Mosbahi

Hassouna Mosbahi
حسونة المصباحي
Mosbahi during Book World Fair in Prague, 2011
Born1950
Dhehibat, Tunisia
NationalityTunisian
CitizenshipTunisian
OccupationAuthor

Hassouna Mosbahi (Arabic: حسونة المصباحي) (born 1950 in Dhehibat, Kairouan) is a Tunisian author, literary critic and freelance journalist.

Biography

Hassouna Mosbahi was born in 1950 in the village of Dhehibat in the governorate of Kairouan, Tunisia, and studied French at the Tunis University.

He suffered persecution at the hands of the government of Habib Bourghiba and so sought refuge in Europe, moving to Munich, Germany in 1985.[1] He returned to Tunisia in 2004.[2]

He has published four collections of short stories and six novels and has been translated into German and English. He has also published dozens of translations of French literary works into Arabic.[3]

His work has won several literary prizes, including the Munich Fiction Prize (for the German translation of his novel Tarshish Hallucination), and the 2016 Mohamed Zefzef Prize for Fiction (for his novel A Tunisian Tale).[4] In 2010 he refused a "Judges' Choice" prize from the Prix Littéraires COMAR D’OR for his novel Ramād al-ḥayāh (Ashes of life),[5] for what he described as "reasons he will keep to himself".[6]

He currently lives in Hammamat, Tunisia.[3]

Prizes

  • Toucan Fiction Prize in Munich, 2000, for German translation of Halwasāt Taršīš (Tarshish Hallucination)
  • Mohamed Zefzef Prize for Fiction, 2016
  • Prix Littéraires COMAR D’OR, "Judges' Choice", 2010 (Refused by author)[6]

Political Views and Controversy

Mosbahi has been vocal in his opposition to the 2011 Tunisian revolution in interviews[7][8] and speeches,[1] as well as in his 2015 novel ʼAšwāk wa-yāsamīn (Thorns and Jasmine). This political stance has been sharply criticized.[9]

Selected works

Novels

  • Miḥan tūnisiyya (Tunisian afflictions), 2017
  • Baḥṯan ʻan al-saʻāda (Searching for happiness), 2017
  • ʼAšwāk wa-yāsamīn (Thorns and jasmine), 2015
  • La nasbahou fi enahri maratayn , 2020
  • Yatīm al-dahr (Orphan of an era), 2012
  • Ramād al-ḥayāh (Ashes of life), 2009
  • Hikāyat tūnisiyya (A Tunisian tale), 2008. English translation 2012 by Max Weiss.[2]
  • Nuwwārat al-diflā (Oleander), 2004. German translation (Der grüne Esel) 2013 by Regina Karachouli.[10]
  • Wadāʻan Rawzālī (A farewell to Rosalie), 2001. German translation (Adieu Rosalie) 2004 by Erdmute Heller.[11]
  • al-ʼAḵirūn (The Others), 1998
  • Halwasāt Taršīš (Tarshish hallucination), 1995. German translation (Rückkehr nach Tarschisch) by Regina Karachouli.

Short stories

  • Haḏayān fī al-ṣaḥrāʼ (Dessert mirages), 2014
  • al-Sulaḥfāh (The Tortoise), 1997, 2000
  • Hikāyat junūn ibnat ʻammī Hanniya (A story of my cousin Hanniya's insanity), 1986
  • Laylat al-ḡurabāʼ (Night of strangers), 1997

References

  1. ^ a b «الحياة», أصيلة (المغرب) - (2016-07-28). "حسونة المصباحي يفوز بجائزة محمد زفزاف للرواية العربية". Hayat. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  2. ^ a b "The American University in Cairo Press > News". www.aucpress.com. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  3. ^ a b "حسونة المصباحي". ويكيبيديا، الموسوعة الحرة (in Arabic). 2018-04-27.
  4. ^ "Banipal (UK) Magazine of Modern Arab Literature - Contributors - Hassouna Mosbahi". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ^ "الجوائز الأدبية الكومار الذهبي". ويكيبيديا، الموسوعة الحرة (in Arabic). 2018-01-15.
  6. ^ a b "حسونة المصباحي يرفض جائزة "كومار" التونسية". مصرس. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  7. ^ "الكاتب التونسي حسونة المصباحي - ديوان العرب". www.diwanalarab.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  8. ^ "حسونة المصباحي: يهاجمونني ويهدرون أوقاتهم في تسول "الدعوات الثقافية" | | صحيفة العرب". صحيفة العرب (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  9. ^ ""أشواك وياسمين" رواية ضد الثورة والرواية" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  10. ^ Schumann, VSIT, Volker. "A1 Verlag - Literatur: Der grüne Esel - Hassouna Mosbahi". www.a1-verlag.de. Retrieved 2018-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Schumann, VSIT, Volker. "A1 Verlag - Literatur: Adieu Rosalie - Roman von Hassouna Mosbahi". www.a1-verlag.de. Retrieved 2018-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)