Fatima Marina

Haji Jaber, Eritrean novelist, born in the coastal city of Massawa, has published five novels, and won the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity, and the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel. His works have been translated into English, Italian, Persian, and Hebrew. It was a confusing moment when our salvation was when we turn our backs to the homeland, when we run away from it with all the fear, hope, doubt, and certainty we possess. I remembered Kadhani's saying when despair took hold of him once: "The homeland is a white lie promoted by some without feeling guilty, and others catch onto it without feeling deceived." Sudan drew closer, and Eritrea began to distance itself. Nations are selfish; a homeland only comes when the other departs. I am certain that those who run beside me, and as much as they desire to escape the homeland, feel pain. As much as they are eager to live outside, they are terrified that one day they will die inside, or quietly slip away from their ribs before they can hide it in the last hiding places of the soul. I am certain that these leave Eritrea with disappointment hanging on their foreheads like Sunday church bells, which hardly quiet down before announcing themselves again. I am certain that the homeland, which has become so narrow for its people, has become very wide with pain. Number of pages: 256