Ismail Fahd Ismail
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Ismail Fahd Ismail | |
|---|---|
| Native name | إسماعيل فهد إسماعيل |
| Born | 1 January 1940 Al-Sabiliat near Basra |
| Died | September 25, 2018 (aged 78) |
| Occupation | Novelist, Literary critic |
| Nationality | Kuwaiti |
| Period | 1985–2018 |
| Genre | Novel, short story |
Ismail Fahd Ismail or Ismāʿīl Fahd Ismāʿīl (Arabic: إسماعيل فهد إسماعيل, IPA: [ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl fad ʔɪs.maːˈʕiːl]; 1940 – 25 September 2018)[1] was an Iraqi-Kuwaiti novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. Acclaimed as one of the most significant and prolific writers in the history of Kuwait, he authored over twenty novels, numerous short story collections, and critical publications.[2]
Two of his works were shortlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction:[3]
- Fī ḥaḍrat al-̔ anqā’ wa al-ḫil al-ūfī (The Phoenix and the faithful friend) in 2014 - This novel tells the story of Ibn Abihi, a bedoon (stateless person) in Kuwaiti society. It is narrated in the first person as Ibn Abihi's autobiography following his release from prison, addressed to his daughter Zeinab, whom he never met.
- Al-Sabiliat in 2017 - This novel is a narrative centered on his own birth village in Iraq against the backdrop of the devastating Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The book was translated by Sophia Vasalou and published posthumously in the USA under the title The Old Woman and the River.[4]
Ismail Fahd Ismail was born in 1940 in the small village of Al-Sabiliat, near Basra in Iraq, where he spent his childhood and early years. In the 1950s, he began working as a teacher in Basra.[5]
The late 1950s and 1960s in Iraq were marked by extreme political instability, characterized by violent coups d'état and severe political repression as Arab nationalists and the Ba'ath Party vied for power (the latter had a short-lived government experience following the Ramadan Revolution of 1963, terminated by a second coup d'état led by Abdul Salam Arif). This volatile environment directly led to Ismail Fahd Ismail's imprisonment and eventual flight to Kuwait in 1967.
After settling in Kuwait, he graduated in 1976 from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts with a degree in Drama and Literary Criticism. He worked in the Kuwaiti public administration at the Ministry of Education until the early 1980s,[6] when he retired to establish his own small literary business.
He died at the age of 78 in Kuwait City on September 25, 2018, and was buried in the Sulaibikhat Cemetery.
