Khaled Khalifa

Khaled Khalifa (; 1 January 1964 – 30 September 2023) was a Syrian novelist, screenwriter and poet. He was nominated three times and shortlisted twice for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). Some of his novels have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish and other languages.

His works frequently criticized the Syrian Baathist government, leading to their ban in the country. This work won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and was shortlisted for the IPAF in 2014. His fifth novel, Death Is Hard Work, also translated by Leri Price, was named a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature. No One Prayed Over Their Graves, Khalifa's sixth novel, was longlisted for the IPAF in 2020.

Death Khalifa died of cardiac arrest at his home in Damascus, on 30 September 2023, at the age of 59.

Works Haris al-Khadi'a, 1993 (The Guard of Deception) Dafatir al-Qurbat, 2000 (The Gypsies' Notebooks) Madih al-karahiya, 2006 (translated by Leri Price as In Praise of Hatred, 2013) La sakakin fi matabikh hadhihi al-madina, 2013 (translated by Leri Price as No Knives in the Kitchens of This City, 2016) Al-mawt 'amal shaq, 2016 (translated by Leri Price as Death Is Hard Work, 2019) Lam yusil 'alayhum ahad, 2019 (translated by Leri Price as No One Prayed Over Their Graves, 2023) Nisr 'ala al-Tawelah al-Mojawerah, 2022 (An Eagle at the Next Table) Samak mayet yatanaf qoshour al-Laymoun 2024 (Dead fish breathing lemon peels)