Isabella Hammad
Birth date1990/91[1]
Birth placeHammersmith, London, England
Alma mater
Years active2019–present
Notable worksThe Parisian (2019);
Enter Ghost (2023)

Isabella Mariam S. Hammad (born 1990/91) is a British-Palestinian author.[2] In 2023, she was included on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.

Biography

Born in Hammersmith to a Palestinian father and a British mother, Hammad grew up in Acton, West London.[3][4][5] Her Palestinian father, whose family were from Nablus, had previously lived in Lebanon.[6] Hammad studied English at the University of Oxford.[7] After undertaking a literature fellowship at Harvard University, she went on to complete a creative writing MFA at New York University.[8]

Awards and honours

In 2019, Hammad was a National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 honoree.[4][9][10] The same year, The New York Times named her debut novel, The Parisian, one of the Notable Books of the year,[11] and The Guardian included Hammad on their list of the year's "writers of exceptional first novels".[8]

The Guardian described her second book, Enter Ghost, as being "a story of Palestine, driven by questions of identity and belonging."[12] 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,[13] going on to be chosen as the winner.[14]

In 2020, Hammad received a Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship,[11] 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.[15][16]

She has also received a Gerald Freund Fellowship from MacDowell and an Axinn Foundation Fellowship from New York University.[11] She was a speaker at the Palestine Writes Literature Festival[17] 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.[18]

She was elected a 2024–2025 Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[19]

Awards for Hammad's writing
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2018“Mr. Can’aan”Plimpton Prize for Fiction[4]
2019O. Henry Prize for Short Story[4]
The ParisianPalestine Book Award[20][8]
2020Betty Trask Award[11]
Chautauqua Prize[21]
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction[20][22]
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction[23]
2023Enter GhostThe Bridge Book Award[24]
2024Aspen Words Literary Prize[25]
Royal Society of Literature Encore Award[26]

Books

  • The Parisian (Jonathan Cape, December 2019)[27][28][29][30]
  • Enter Ghost (Grove Press, April 2023)[31][32]
  • Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative (Grove Press, September 2024)

References

  1. ^ Cummins, Anthony (September 21, 2024). "Isabella Hammad: 'I heard Edward Said speak when I was seven'". Retrieved October 17, 2024. "Isabella Hammad, 33, was born in London to a Palestinian father and British-Irish mother."
  2. ^ Khatib, Joumana (2019-04-04). "A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family's History, and Palestine's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived 19 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  3. ^ Tivnan, Tom (1 February 2019). "Isabella Hammad - 'I think it's best to take the hype with a pinch of salt'". The Bookseller. Archived 15 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Isabella Hammad". National Book Foundation. Archived 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  5. ^ Handel, Nathalie (7 May 2019). ""The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel". Electric Lit. Archived 14 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  6. ^ Shotter, James (19 January 2024). "Writer Isabella Hammad: 'It's hard to know where we're going, but it doesn't look good'". Financial Times. Archived 15 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  7. ^ Handel, Nathalie (7 May 2019). ""The Parisian" Weaves Family Stories and Palestinian History Into a Debut Novel". Electric Lit. Archived 14 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Meet the hottest-tipped debut novelists of 2019". The Observer. 2019-01-13. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived 19 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  9. ^ Andrews, Meredith (2019-11-11). "Jeremy O. Harris to Host 2019 5 Under 35 Celebration". National Book Foundation. Archived 7 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  10. ^ "National Book Foundation: '5 Under 35'". Shelf Awareness. 2019-09-24. Archived 27 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  11. ^ "Isabella Hammad". Lannan Foundation. Archived 12 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  12. ^ Jones, Sadie (2023-03-29). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived 12 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  13. ^ Spanoudi, Melina (30 May 2024). "Novels by Isabella Hammad and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ vying for the 10k Encore Award". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  14. ^ Wood, Heloise (19 June 2024). "Isabella Hammad wins boosted RSL Encore Award, now worth £15k". The Bookseller. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  15. ^ Razzall, Katie (2023-04-13). "Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list". BBC News. Archived 14 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  16. ^ "Granta Names 'Best of Young British Novelists'". Shelf Awareness. 2023-04-14. Archived 14 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  17. ^ "Palestine Writes – فلسطين تكتب". Archived 29 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  18. ^ Hammad, Isabella (27 October 2023). "Recognizing the Stranger". The Paris Review. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  19. ^ Allen, Brittany (23 April 2024). "Please welcome the 2024-25 class of Cullman fellows.". Literary Hub. Archived 23 April 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Isabella Hammad". Brown University, Literary Arts Program. Archived 7 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  21. ^ Steves, Jordan (2020-05-08). "Seven Finalists Named for 2020 Chautauqua Prize". Chautauqua Institution. Archived 25 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  22. ^ "American Academy of Arts & Letters Selects Valeria Luiselli & Isabella Hammad as the 2020 Literature Award Winners". RCW Literary Agency. Archived 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  23. ^ "Awards: Walter Scott Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 2020-04-01. Archived 27 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  24. ^ "Winners of the Bridge Book Award Announced". American Academy in Rome. 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  25. ^ Schaub, Michael (2024-04-26). "Winner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived 2024-04-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  26. ^ "Hammad wins 2024 RSL Encore Award". Books+Publishing. 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  27. ^ Benfey, Christopher (2019-04-12). "A Novel Whose Hero Is a Man Divided, as Is His Native Palestine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived 19 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  28. ^ Thomas-Corr, Johanna (2019-04-15). "The Parisian by Isabella Hammad review – Middlemarch with minarets". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived 15 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  29. ^ Khatib, Joumana (2019-04-04). "A Debut Novelist Explores Her Family's History, and Palestine's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived 19 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  30. ^ Moharram, Jehanne (Winter 2020). "The Parisian by Isabella Hammad". World Literature Today. Archived 23 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  31. ^ Williams, Holly (2023-03-28). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – drama in the West Bank". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived 23 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  32. ^ Jones, Sadie (2023-03-29). "Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – Hamlet in Palestine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived 12 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-23.