Jokha Alharthi

Jokha Alharthi is an Omani novelist and academic recognized for her contributions to Arabic literature and her role in bringing Omani narratives to an international audience. Alharthi won the Man Booker International Prize for her novel "Celestial Bodies," becoming the first Arab author to receive this honor. She has published three collections of short stories, three children's books, and four novels: "Manamat," "Celestial Bodies," "Bitter Orange Tree," and "Silken Gazelles." Her work, spanning multiple genres and audiences, has been translated into English, Serbian, Korean, Italian, and German, and has appeared in Banipal magazine.

Alharthi's literary career began with a collection of short stories. Her Arabic fiction explores the political and social changes in Oman over recent decades, using the novel form to examine human responses to these shifts and providing insight into the inner lives of her characters. She holds a PhD in classical Arabic literature from Edinburgh University and serves as an associate professor in the Arabic department at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat.

The English translation of "Celestial Bodies" by Marilyn Booth was published in the United Kingdom by Sandstone Press and won the Man Booker International Prize. It was the first work by an Arabic-language writer to receive this award and the first novel by an Omani woman to be translated into English. "Celestial Bodies" has been translated into 24 languages, including French, German, Russian, Chinese, Swedish, Turkish, and Indonesian.

Alharthi's novel "Bitter Orange Tree," also translated by Marilyn Booth, was recognized as one of the best reviewed works in translation and was listed among 100 must-read books of the year by TIME magazine. Her accolades include the Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts, and Literature for "Bitter Orange Tree," a nomination for the Zayed Book Award for "Celestial Bodies," and the Sharjah Award for Creative Arabic Fiction. In addition to her writing, Alharthi has participated in and supervised the International Prize for Arabic Fiction IPAF Nadwa writers' workshop. Her work bridges classical Arabic literary traditions with contemporary global storytelling, establishing Alharthi as a significant voice in world literature and Arabic fiction.