Mamdouh Adwan Publishing and Distribution House announced the death of the Syrian writer, poet, and screenwriter Khaled Khalifa on Saturday at the age of 59.
Khalifa was born in Aleppo in 1964. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1988 and was a member of the university’s Literary Forum. He wrote television dramas, some documentaries, and short and feature films.
He published six novels, the most notable of which are (Praise of Hate), which was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2008, and the novel (No Knives in the Kitchens of This City), which won the Naguib Mahfouz Prize from the American University in Cairo in 2013.
Among the series for which he wrote the story, script, and dialogue are (Rainbow), (Biography of the Al-Jalali family), (Relative Calm), and (Shadow of a Woman).
Egyptian director Khairy Bishara mourned him in a blog post on the X website, saying, “The news landed like a thunderbolt… Khaled Khalifa was one of the most beautiful friends… The concerns of life separated us, as did distance and war… A short time ago, I was very happy when we started exchanging our sweet memories, hoping to renew The relationship and the revival of an old friendship… May you rest in peace, my most beautiful beings.”
Kuwaiti writer Talib Al-Rifai also mourned him, saying, “It is as if death chooses its loved ones. Shocking news, my dear friend Khaled Khalifa. There is no consolation in the arena of the Arabic novel. May your pure soul have wide forgiveness and wide mercy.”
