Review by Kerenn Elkaïm for Livres Hebdo, April 2019
« La mémoire, soit elle existe, soit elle n ‘existe pas. Soit tu te réconcilies avec elle, soit tu t’en détournes. » Sulayma ne parvient pas à la chasser. Elle songe à Nissim, « ce jeune homme étrange aux os protubérants. » L’héroïne le croise dans un lieu improbable, la salle d’attente de leur psy.

Published by Bresciaoggi, May 31, 2018
“The Frightened” live and suffer in Syria
Tearing, creeping, uninterrupted. It is fear, a devastating fury that annihilates. How to define it: state of mind, obsession, modus vivendi? Surely it is a force that takes on different connotations, from anxiety to torment to panic.

Published by La Repubblica, April 15, 2018
Love and Xanax in Damascus

He escaped to Berlin. She remained in Syria: hoping to find her brother, who has “disappeared” at the hands of the regime. But is it possible to really love each other when your survival is conditioned by fear?

The prize, which aims at rewarding excellence in Arabic creative writing, was launched in Abu Dhabi in 2007. Apart the $10,000 that awarded to each finalist, and the $50,000 awarded to the winner, the prize also supports translation.

There is ultimately one kind of fear: The fear of fear. The psychological depths of fear and anxiety brilliantly explored in a novel set in contemporary Syria.