Black Taste, Black Odour
Ali al-Muqri
In Black Taste, Black Odour (Dar El-Saqi, Beirut, 2008), Yemeni author Ali al-Muqri transports his readers into the city slums where poverty, filth, cruelty and injustice run rife. Basing his novel on historical research, al-Muqri explores the atrocious conditions in which the Akhdam class (the outcasts of Yemeni society) live.
Nomination
2009 Longlist
Ali al-Muqri
Country of origin Yemen
About the author
Ali al-Muqri is a Yemeni writer born in 1966. He has worked in cultural journalism since 1985. He has published eight books including Black Taste, Black Odour which was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2009. Some of his works have been translated into English, German, French and Spanish. He has participated in several literary Arabic and international festivals. His latest novel, The Handsome Jew, has been longlisted for the 2011 Prize.