Isabella Hammad
Born
Hammersmith, London, England
Alma mater
Years active2019–present

Isabella Mariam S. Hammad [1] is a British-Palestinian author.[2] In 2023, she was included on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.

Biography

Hammad grew up in Acton, West London.[3][4][5] Her Palestinian father, whose family were from Nablus, had previously lived in Lebanon.[6] Hammad studied English at the University of Oxford.[7] After undertaking a literature fellowship at Harvard University, she went on to complete a creative writing MFA at New York University.[1] Hammad splits her time between London, Paris, and New York.[8][9]

Awards and honors

In 2019, Hammad was a National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" honoree.[4][10][11] The same year, the New York Times named The Parisian one of the Notable Books of the year,[12] and the Guardian included Hammad on their list of the year's "writers of exceptional first novels".[1] The Guardian describes her second book, Enter Ghost, as being "a story of Palestine, driven by questions of identity and belonging."[13]

In 2020, she received a Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship,[12] and in 2023, she was included on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40.[14][15]

She has also received a Gerald Freund Fellowship from MacDowell and an Axinn Foundation Fellowship from New York University.[12] She was a speaker at The Palestine Writes Literature Festival[16] in Philadelphia, PA, on September 22, 2023. The event was held at the University of Pennsylvania.[17]

Awards for Hammad's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2018 “Mr. Can’aan” Plimpton Prize for Fiction Won [4]
2019 O. Henry Prize for Short Story Winner [4]
The Parisian Palestine Book Award Winner [18][1]
2020 Betty Trask Award Winner [12]
Chautauqua Prize Finalist [19]
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction Winner [18][20]
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Shortlist [21]

Books

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Meet the hottest-tipped debut novelists of 2019". The Observer. 13 January 2019. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  2. ^ Khatib, Joumana (4 April 2019). "A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family's History, and Palestine's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  3. ^ Tivnan, Tom (1 February 2019). "Isabella Hammad - 'I think it's best to take the hype with a pinch of salt'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Isabella Hammad". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  5. ^ Handel, Nathalie (7 May 2019). ""The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel". Electric Lit. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  6. ^ Shotter, James (19 January 2024). "Writer Isabella Hammad: 'It's hard to know where we're going, but it doesn't look good'". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  7. ^ Handel, Nathalie (7 May 2019). ""The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel". Electric Lit. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  8. ^ Javed, Saman (3 May 2023). "'My relationship with Palestine is complex, intellectual and emotional'". Hyphen. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Isabella Hammad". Literary Arts. Brown University. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. ^ Andrews, Meredith (11 November 2019). "Jeremy O. Harris to Host 2019 5 Under 35 Celebration". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  11. ^ "National Book Foundation: '5 Under 35'". Shelf Awareness. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  12. ^ a b c d "Isabella Hammad". Lannan Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  13. ^ Jones, Sadie (29 March 2023). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  14. ^ Razzall, Katie (13 April 2023). "Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Granta Names 'Best of Young British Novelists'". Shelf Awareness. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Palestine Writes – فلسطين تكتب". Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  17. ^ "The liberated space of Palestine Writes". Mondoweiss. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Isabella Hammad". Brown University, Literary Arts Program. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  19. ^ Steves, Jordan (8 May 2020). "Seven Finalists Named for 2020 Chautauqua Prize". Chautauqua Institution. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  20. ^ "American Academy of Arts & Letters Selects Valeria Luiselli & Isabella Hammad as the 2020 Literature Award Winners". RCW Literary Agency. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Awards: Walter Scott Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 1 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  22. ^ Benfey, Christopher (12 April 2019). "A Novel Whose Hero Is a Man Divided, as Is His Native Palestine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  23. ^ Thomas-Corr, Johanna (15 April 2019). "The Parisian by Isabella Hammad review – Middlemarch with minarets". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  24. ^ Khatib, Joumana (4 April 2019). "A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family's History, and Palestine's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  25. ^ "The Parisian by Isabella Hammad". World Literature Today. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  26. ^ Williams, Holly (28 March 2023). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – drama in the West Bank". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  27. ^ Jones, Sadie (29 March 2023). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

External links

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