Female Egyptian novelist wins Warwick literary award

Egyptian novelist Deena Mohamed has been awarded 2023’s Warwick Prize for Women in Translation for her graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik (Your Wish Is My Command), originally written in Arabic. 

Announced in a ceremony at The Shard in London on November 23, Mohamed’s work was selected from a shortlist of eight texts and a record-breaking 153 entries.

It was the only translation up for the award completed by the original writer themselves, with Mohamed doing the illustrations for the book too.

Beginning her comic book career at just 18, Mohamed gained recognition through her viral webcomic, Qahera

Beginning her comic book career at just 18, Mohamed gained recognition through her viral webcomic, Qahera, commenting on social and feminist issues through stories of a hijabi superhero navigating her way through the Arab world. 

In addition to the still ongoing Qahera, Your Wish Is My Command continues these themes; its plotline follows the protagonist Aziza in a world where wishes are available for purchase. Yet with more expensive wishes being more powerful, this magical economy provides no escape from the inequality and corruption entrenched in society.

Mohamed’s wittily inventive texts and dialogues complement her virtuoso drawings in an exuberant satirical fantasia

Women in Translation Prize Judges

The Prize Judges – Boyd Tonkin, Amanda Hopkinson, and Susan Bassnett – commented on Mohamed’s accomplishment:

“This year’s winner breaks exciting new ground for this unique prize. A graphic novel self-translated from the Arabic by its author, Your Wish is My Command succeeds triumphantly as a spellbinding narrative, a visual tour de force and as a unified work of art.

“Deena Mohamed’s wittily inventive texts and dialogues complement her virtuoso drawings in an exuberant satirical fantasia. She channels the dreams, fears and struggles of an alternative Cairo – a city of the imagination whose people share the everyday aspirations, and frustrations, of all who wish and hope around the world.”

Less than 1/3 of translated texts are by female writers

Launched in 2017, the prize aims to address the gender imbalance in translated literature. Foreign fiction makes up just 3% of published UK titles, leaving overseas female writers on the very periphery of the writing world. 

Less than 1/3 of translated texts are by female writers, and because they are often a costly endeavour, publishers can be reluctant to take on translations altogether. Coupled with a shortlist made up wholly of independent publishers, the growth in entrants to this year’s prize highlights valuable progress in the accessibility of translated texts to British and Irish readerships in general.

The judges also offered special commendation to Caroline Waight’s translation of the Danish A Line in the World by Dorthe Nors: 

“Dorthe Nors’s A Line in the World transforms the North Sea coast of Denmark into an enchanted shoreline. Here, past and present, nature and humanity, meet, in superbly evocative prose carried flawlessly into English by Caroline Waight.”

Translators of all genders are eligible to enter, as long as the original text is the work of a woman and it is printed by a British or Irish publisher. Narrowed down from a longlist of sixteen and 153 submissions, this year’s eclectic shortlist offered nominees spanning three continents. Nominations for 2024’s prize will open in April.