Sand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah

From Coffee House Press:

A SARDONIC, THRILLING FABLE ABOUT COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE MANY WAYS IT CAN BE SAVED OR SUBVERTED.

Four young, Palestinian journalists at a Jordanian newspaper are tasked, on account of their heritage, with profiling one of the last living witnesses of the Nakba, the violent expulsion of native Palestinians by the nascent state of Israel in 1948. Confident that the old man will be all too happy to go on record, the reporters are nonplussed when they are repeatedly, and obscenely, rebuffed. This living witness to history, this secular saint, has no desire to be interviewed, no desire for his memories to be preserved, no desire to serve as an inspiration for the youth of tomorrow. What he wants is to be left alone.

As threats from the team's editor-in-chief put more and more pressure on the journalists, they must decide just how far they're willing to go to get the old man on the record. After all, what possible weight can one stubborn demand for privacy have when balanced against the imperative to bear witness?

Omar Khalifah's debut novel Sand-Catcher is at once a polyphonic satire and a tightly plotted tale of suspense. Walking the line between gallows humor, rage, and depthless heartbreak, it is a unique reflection of contemporary Palestinian identity in all its facets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Omar Khalifah is a novelist and short story writer in Arabic. His book, Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary, was published in English by Edinburgh University Press in 2017. His collection Ka’annani Ana (As If I Were Myself) was published in Amman, Jordan in 2010, and his novel Qabid al-Raml (Sand-Catcher) was published in 2020. His articles have appeared in Middle East Critique and Journal of World Literature. A Fulbright scholar, Khalifah is assistant professor of Arabic Literature and Culture at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Barbara Romaine is an academic and literary translator. She has published translations of five novels, most recently Waiting for the Past (Syracuse University Press, 2022), by the Iraqi novelist Hadiya Hussein. She has held two NEA fellowships in translation, one of which was for her work on Radwa Ashour's Spectres (Interlink Books, 2011). Spectres went on to place second in the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal international translation competition. Romaine’s translations of essays, short stories, and classical poetry have appeared in a variety of literary periodicals.

PRAISE FOR SAND-CATCHER

A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2024
A Millions Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024

“Sand-Catcher exemplifies why translated literature is important. An exuberant and thought-provoking tale.” —Cory Oldweiler, The Boston Globe

“A timely new translation and hopefully one we’ll be reading at the same time as we can celebrate a safe and free Palestine.” —Literary Hub

“For anyone looking for insight—tinged with grim humor—into the years leading up to the present political crisis in the Middle East and the decades-long goal of Palestinian autonomy.” —The Millions