Isabella Hammad

{{Infobox person

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = 1990/91{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/21/isabella-hammad-recognising-the-stranger-on-palestine-and-narrative|title=Isabella Hammad: ‘I heard Edward Said speak when I was seven’|last=Cummins|first=Anthony|date=September 21, 2024|accessdate=October 17, 2024}} "Isabella Hammad, 33, was born in London to a Palestinian father and British-Irish mother."

| birth_name =

| birth_place = Hammersmith, London, England

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

}}

| occupation =

| years_active = 2019–present

| notable_works = The Parisian (2019);
Enter Ghost (2023)

| website =

}}

Isabella Mariam S. Hammad (born 1990/91) is a British-Palestinian author.{{Cite news |last=Khatib |first=Joumana |date=2019-04-04 |title=A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family’s History, and Palestine’s |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/books/isabella-hammad-the-parisian.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519173040/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/books/isabella-hammad-the-parisian.html |url-status=live }} In 2023, she was included on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.

Biography

Hammad grew up in Acton, West London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/author-interviews/interview-isabella-hammad-i-think-it-s-best-take-hype-pinch-salt-954136|title=Isabella Hammad - 'I think it's best to take the hype with a pinch of salt'|journal=The Bookseller|first=Tom|last=Tivnan|date=1 February 2019|access-date=15 February 2024|archive-date=15 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215100217/https://www.thebookseller.com/author-interviews/interview-isabella-hammad-i-think-it-s-best-take-hype-pinch-salt-954136|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Isabella Hammad |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/people/isabella-hammad/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=National Book Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131004608/https://www.nationalbook.org/people/isabella-hammad/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/the-parisian-weaves-family-stories-and-palestinian-history-into-a-debut-novel/|title="The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel|website=Electric Lit|first=Nathalie|last=Handel|date=7 May 2019|accessdate=15 February 2024|archive-date=14 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214074518/https://electricliterature.com/the-parisian-weaves-family-stories-and-palestinian-history-into-a-debut-novel/|url-status=live}} Her Palestinian father, whose family were from Nablus, had previously lived in Lebanon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/51236f45-44a4-44d4-8332-78405d3bdf46|title=Writer Isabella Hammad: 'It's hard to know where we're going, but it doesn't look good'|journal=Financial Times|first=James|last=Shotter|date=19 January 2024|access-date=15 February 2024|archive-date=15 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215100215/https://www.ft.com/content/51236f45-44a4-44d4-8332-78405d3bdf46|url-status=live}} Hammad studied English at the University of Oxford.{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/the-parisian-weaves-family-stories-and-palestinian-history-into-a-debut-novel/|title="The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel|website=Electric Lit|first=Nathalie|last=Handel|date=7 May 2019|access-date=15 February 2024|archive-date=14 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214074518/https://electricliterature.com/the-parisian-weaves-family-stories-and-palestinian-history-into-a-debut-novel/|url-status=live}} After undertaking a literature fellowship at Harvard University, she went on to complete a creative writing MFA at New York University.{{Cite news |date=2019-01-13 |title=Meet the hottest-tipped debut novelists of 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/13/debut-novelists-of-2019-interviews-bev-thomas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519173815/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/13/debut-novelists-of-2019-interviews-bev-thomas |archive-date=19 May 2021 |access-date=2023-04-15 |newspaper=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}

Awards and honours

In 2019, Hammad was a National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honoree.{{Cite web |last=Andrews |first=Meredith |date=2019-11-11 |title=Jeremy O. Harris to Host 2019 5 Under 35 Celebration |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/jeremy-o-harris-to-host-2019-5-under-35-celebration/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=National Book Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007052843/https://www.nationalbook.org/jeremy-o-harris-to-host-2019-5-under-35-celebration/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-09-24 |title=National Book Foundation: '5 Under 35' |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3585 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=27 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927120628/https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3585 |url-status=live }} The same year, The New York Times named her debut novel, The Parisian, one of the Notable Books of the year,{{Cite web |title=Isabella Hammad |url=https://lannan.org/bios/isabella-hammad |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Lannan Foundation |language=en |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412080717/https://lannan.org/bios/isabella-hammad |url-status=live }} and The Guardian included Hammad on their list of the year's "writers of exceptional first novels".

The Guardian described her second book, Enter Ghost, as being "a story of Palestine, driven by questions of identity and belonging."{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Sadie |date=2023-03-29 |title=Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/29/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-hamlet-in-palestine |access-date=2023-09-28 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412080812/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/29/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-hamlet-in-palestine |url-status=live }} It was shortlisted for the 2024 Encore Award, given by the Royal Society of Literature to celebrate the "difficult second novel" that follows an author's literary debut,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/novels-by-isabella-hammad-and-ayobami-adebayo-vying-for-the-10k-encore-award|title=Novels by Isabella Hammad and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ vying for the 10k Encore Award|magazine=The Bookseller|first=Melina|last=Spanoudi|date=30 May 2024|access-date=19 June 2024}} going on to be chosen as the winner.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/isabella-hammad-wins-boosted-rsl-encore-award-now-worth-15k|title=Isabella Hammad wins boosted RSL Encore Award, now worth £15k|magazine=The Bookseller|date=19 June 2024|first=Heloise|last=Wood|access-date=20 June 2024}}

In 2020, Hammad received a Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship, and in 2023, she was included on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40.{{cite web |last=Razzall |first=Katie |date=2023-04-13 |title=Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65256575 |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=BBC News |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414065523/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65256575 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-04-14 |title=Granta Names 'Best of Young British Novelists' |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4459 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414181459/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4459 |url-status=live }}

She has also received a Gerald Freund Fellowship from MacDowell and an Axinn Foundation Fellowship from New York University. She was a speaker at the Palestine Writes Literature Festival{{Cite web |title=Palestine Writes – فلسطين تكتب |url=https://palestinewrites.org/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |language=en-US |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929151403/https://palestinewrites.org/ |url-status=live }} in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 22 September 2023. She delivered the Edward Said Memorial Lecture, entitled "Recognizing the Stranger", at Columbia University at the end of September 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2023/10/27/recognizing-the-stranger/|title=Recognizing the Stranger|first=Isabella|last=Hammad|website=The Paris Review|date=27 October 2023|access-date=18 June 2024}}

She was elected a 2024–2025 Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Brittany |title=Please welcome the 2024-25 class of Cullman fellows. |url=https://lithub.com/please-welcome-the-2024-25-class-of-cullman-fellows/ |website=Literary Hub|date=23 April 2024 |access-date=24 April 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423140806/https://lithub.com/please-welcome-the-2024-25-class-of-cullman-fellows/ |url-status=live }}

class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" \|+Awards for Hammad's writing !Year !Title !Award !Result !Ref.
2018 \| rowspan="2" \|{{Sort\|Mr. Can’aan\|“Mr. Can’aan”}} \|Plimpton Prize for Fiction \|{{Won}} \|
rowspan="2" \|2019 \|O. Henry Prize for Short Story \|{{won}} \|
rowspan="5" \|{{Sort\|Parisian\|The Parisian}} \|Palestine Book Award \|{{won}} \|{{cite web \|title=Isabella Hammad \|url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/literary-arts/events/isabella-hammad \|access-date=2021-06-22 \|website=Brown University, Literary Arts Program \|publisher= \|archive-date=7 August 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807185258/https://www.brown.edu/academics/literary-arts/events/isabella-hammad \|url-status=live }}
rowspan="4" \|2020 \|Betty Trask Award \|{{won}} \|
Chautauqua Prize \|{{sho}} \|{{Cite web \|last=Steves \|first=Jordan \|date=2020-05-08 \|title=Seven Finalists Named for 2020 Chautauqua Prize \|url=https://www.chq.org/announcements/seven-finalists-named-for-2020-chautauqua-prize/ \|access-date=2023-04-15 \|website=Chautauqua Institution \|language=en-US \|archive-date=25 September 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925053200/https://www.chq.org/announcements/seven-finalists-named-for-2020-chautauqua-prize/ \|url-status=live }}
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction \|{{won}} \|{{Cite web \|title=American Academy of Arts & Letters Selects Valeria Luiselli & Isabella Hammad as the 2020 Literature Award Winners \|url=https://www.rcwlitagency.com/news/american-academy-of-arts-letters-selects-valeria-luiselli-isabella-hammad-as-the-2020-literature-award-winners/ \|access-date=2023-04-15 \|website=RCW Literary Agency \|language=en \|archive-date=31 January 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131174825/https://www.rcwlitagency.com/news/american-academy-of-arts-letters-selects-valeria-luiselli-isabella-hammad-as-the-2020-literature-award-winners/ \|url-status=live }}
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction \|{{sho}} \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2020-04-01 \|title=Awards: Walter Scott Shortlist \|url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3708 \|access-date=2023-04-15 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=27 October 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027002057/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3708 \|url-status=live }}
rowspan="2" \| 2024 \|rowspan="2" \| Enter Ghost \|Aspen Words Literary Prize \|{{won}} \|{{Cite web \|last=Schaub \|first=Michael \|date=2024-04-26 \|title=Winnner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize Revealed \|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winnner-of-the-aspen-words-literary-prize-revealed/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426175829/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winnner-of-the-aspen-words-literary-prize-revealed/ \|archive-date=2024-04-26 \|access-date=2024-04-28 \|website=Kirkus Reviews \|language=en}}
Royal Society of Literature Encore Award \| {{won}} \| {{Cite web \|date=2024-06-20 \|title=Hammad wins 2024 RSL Encore Award \|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/06/20/253751/hammad-wins-2024-rsl-encore-award/ \|access-date=2024-06-24 \|publisher=Books+Publishing}}

class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"

|+Awards for Hammad's writing

!Year

!Title

!Award

!Result

!Ref.

2018

| rowspan="2" |{{Sort|Mr. Can’aan|“Mr. Can’aan”}}

|Plimpton Prize for Fiction

|{{Won}}

rowspan="2" |2019

|O. Henry Prize for Short Story

|{{won}}

rowspan="5" |{{Sort|Parisian|The Parisian}}

|Palestine Book Award

|{{won}}

|{{cite web |title=Isabella Hammad |url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/literary-arts/events/isabella-hammad |access-date=2021-06-22 |website=Brown University, Literary Arts Program |publisher= |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807185258/https://www.brown.edu/academics/literary-arts/events/isabella-hammad |url-status=live }}

rowspan="4" |2020

|Betty Trask Award

|{{won}}

Chautauqua Prize

|{{sho}}

|{{Cite web |last=Steves |first=Jordan |date=2020-05-08 |title=Seven Finalists Named for 2020 Chautauqua Prize |url=https://www.chq.org/announcements/seven-finalists-named-for-2020-chautauqua-prize/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Chautauqua Institution |language=en-US |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925053200/https://www.chq.org/announcements/seven-finalists-named-for-2020-chautauqua-prize/ |url-status=live }}

Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction

|{{won}}

|{{Cite web |title=American Academy of Arts & Letters Selects Valeria Luiselli & Isabella Hammad as the 2020 Literature Award Winners |url=https://www.rcwlitagency.com/news/american-academy-of-arts-letters-selects-valeria-luiselli-isabella-hammad-as-the-2020-literature-award-winners/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=RCW Literary Agency |language=en |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131174825/https://www.rcwlitagency.com/news/american-academy-of-arts-letters-selects-valeria-luiselli-isabella-hammad-as-the-2020-literature-award-winners/ |url-status=live }}

Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

|{{sho}}

|{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-04-01 |title=Awards: Walter Scott Shortlist |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3708 |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=27 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027002057/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3708 |url-status=live }}

rowspan="2" | 2024

|rowspan="2" | Enter Ghost

|Aspen Words Literary Prize

|{{won}}

|{{Cite web |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=2024-04-26 |title=Winnner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize Revealed |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winnner-of-the-aspen-words-literary-prize-revealed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426175829/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winnner-of-the-aspen-words-literary-prize-revealed/ |archive-date=2024-04-26 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}

Royal Society of Literature Encore Award

| {{won}}

| {{Cite web |date=2024-06-20 |title=Hammad wins 2024 RSL Encore Award |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/06/20/253751/hammad-wins-2024-rsl-encore-award/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}

Books

The Parisian (Jonathan Cape, December 2019){{Cite news |last=Benfey |first=Christopher |date=2019-04-12 |title=A Novel Whose Hero Is a Man Divided, as Is His Native Palestine |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/books/review/isabella-hammad-parisian.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519173040/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/books/review/isabella-hammad-parisian.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Thomas-Corr |first=Johanna |date=2019-04-15 |title=The Parisian by Isabella Hammad review – Middlemarch with minarets |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/15/the-parisian-isabella-hammad-review |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0029-7712 |archive-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415041327/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/15/the-parisian-isabella-hammad-review |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Khatib |first=Joumana |date=2019-04-04 |title=A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family’s History, and Palestine’s |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/books/isabella-hammad-the-parisian.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519173040/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/books/isabella-hammad-the-parisian.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=The Parisian by Isabella Hammad |url=https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2020/winter/parisian-isabella-hammad |first=Jehanne|last=Moharram|date=Winter 2020|access-date=2023-06-23 |website=World Literature Today |language=en |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623183715/https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2020/winter/parisian-isabella-hammad |url-status=live }}
Enter Ghost (Grove Press, April 2023){{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Holly |date=2023-03-28 |title=Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – drama in the West Bank |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/28/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-drama-in-the-west-bank |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623183106/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/28/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-drama-in-the-west-bank |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Sadie |date=2023-03-29 |title=Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/29/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-hamlet-in-palestine |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412080812/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/29/enter-ghost-by-isabella-hammad-review-hamlet-in-palestine |url-status=live }}
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative (Grove Press, September 2024)

References

pe:ایزابلا حمد

External links

{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/books/review/isabella-hammad-parisian.html|title=A Novel Whose Hero Is a Man Divided, as Is His Native Palestine|first=Christopher|last=Benfey|date=12 April 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}
{{Cite web|url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/isabella-hammad-interviewed-2/|title=BOMB Magazine | Isabella Hammad Interviewed|date=28 April 2023|website=BOMB Magazine}}
{{Cite web|url=https://sites.nd.edu/literatures-of-annihilation-exile-resistance/interviews/the-parisian-an-interview-with-isabella-hammad/|title=THE PARISIAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH ISABELLA HAMMAD | Literatures of Annihilation, Exile & Resistance|website=sites.nd.edu}}

Category:Living people

Category:1990s births

Category:21st-century British women writers

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:21st-century English writers

Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford

Category:British women short story writers

Category:English people of Northern Ireland descent

Category:English people of Palestinian descent

Category:English short story writers

Category:English women novelists

Category:New York University alumni