Jokha Alharthi

Jokha Alharthi is an Omani writer and academic, and an associate professor in the College of Arts at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. She won the “Man Booker International Prize” for her novel Celestial Bodies (Sayyidāt al-qamar) in 2019, becoming the first Arab writer to win the prize in its history. The French translation of the novel also won the “Arab Literature Prize” in Paris in 2021, and in 2024 she was awarded the “Sultan’s order of merit” and was honored by the Gulf Cooperation Council. She also won the “Sultan Qaboos Prize for Culture, Arts, and Literature” in 2016 for her novel Bitter Orange Tree (Naranja) which was also nominated for several other literary awards, including the “James Tait Black Memorial Prize” in the United Kingdom and the “Dublin Literary Award” in Ireland. In 2010, she won the “Best Omani Novel Award” and the “Best Omani Children’s Literature Award.”
Celestial Bodies has been translated into 26 languages. The novels Bitter Orange Tree and Silken Gazelles have been translated into a number of languages. She has published 11 books and 3 children’s books; among her most recent publications are:
The Body in Arabic Love Poetry: The ʿUdhri Tradition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021. The translation was published into Arabic, Sharjah: Dār Riwāyāt, 2024;
Silken Gazelles, Beirut: Dār al-Ādāb, 2021; its English translation was published in 2024.
Wadāʿi Layliyya came out in Kuwait: Takwīn Publications, 2025.
In addition, she has published dozens of academic research papers and articles in specialized Arab and international journals. She has participated in academic conferences and literary festivals in numerous cities around the world. She has been selected as a member of several juries and served on the board of directors of the Cultural Club and the Literary Forum in Muscat, Oman.

Jokha is a member of kalimat‘s advisory board and contributes to the handbook as an author.