New York, April 6 (BUS): Rabie Alamuddin’s “The Wrong End of the Telescope,” a second-person first-person novel about a transgender doctor named Mina who works in a Syrian refugee camp, has won the PEN/Faulkner Award. for imagination.
“This novel explores the intricacies of refugee life and the intricacies of Mina’s relationships, looking at the many angles of a vital and timely topic, and examining the life-altering choices that humans are forced to make,” according to a statement from the Judges’ Prize, the AP reports.
“Wonderful language suspends time and investigates the intricacies of seeking refuge, whether from geopolitical turmoil or from one’s lifestyles.”
Alameddine, a Lebanese American whose work was among the finalists of the National Book Award “An Unnecessary Woman,” will receive $15,000. Philip Roth, El Doctoro and Karen Jay Fowler have been among the previous PEN/Faulkner winners.
“No writer can see the list of books that won the PEN / Faulkner Prize, and we are not humbled and honored to include his book in it,” Alameddine said in a statement.
Last week, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced that Oprah Winfrey has been named its second annual Literary Champion, a lifetime achievement honor given last year to LeVar Burton.