Haji Jabir

Haji Jabir (born 1976) is an Eritrean novelist and journalist. He was born in the city of Massawa on the Red Sea coast. Writing in Arabic, he has published five novels as of 2021. With the nomination of Black Foam, Jabir became the first Eritrean novelist to be longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Life and career Jaber’s literary work deals with the past and present of Eritrea, its diaspora and the wider Horn of Africa. His novel Black Foam, based on real events, tells the fictional story of a group of Ethiopian Jews, who emigrate to Israel to escape poverty and in search of a better life. In 2023, it was published in an English translation by Sawad Hussain and Marcia Lynx Qualey. In an interview with ArabLit magazine, he said:

Works Samrawit (2012), winner of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2012. Fatma's Harbour (2013), translated into Italian. The Spindle Game (2015), longlisted for the 2016 Sheikh Zayed Book Award . Black Foam (2018), winner of the Katara Novel Prize in 2019, and longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. The Abyssinian Rimbaud (2021).