Yemen Writes Despite Everything

Yemenat

Mohammed Al–Mekhlafi

Yemen is going through one of the harshest periods in its modern history, a time that has weighed heavily on people and exhausted the details of their daily lives.

From the suspension of salaries and the tightening of livelihoods to the absence of stability, hardship has become a defining feature of everyday existence.

The Yemeni public employee has been among those who have paid the highest price for this crisis, often finding themselves unable to meet even the most basic necessities of life.

Within this difficult reality, writers, intellectuals, and poets have not been spared suffering. On the contrary, they have been among the most affected groups.

Despite these conditions, many have remained steadfast. They continued to write, create, and publish, producing notable works throughout these difficult years.

Let us focus on a single year, 2025. In that year alone, significant literary works were released, some of which received prestigious Yemeni and Arab literary awards.

Among these achievements is the novelist Nadia Yahya Hussein Al Kawkabani, who won Naguib Mahfoudh Award for Arabic Fiction for her novel Not (This is not the Story of Abdo Saeed.) This recognition affirmed the presence of Yemeni narrative writing within one of the most respected Arab literary prizes.

The novelist Hamid Al Ruqaimi also received the Katara Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel (Memory Blindness) in the category of published novels. This award is dedicated to supporting Arabic fiction and promoting its translation into other languages.

On the local level, the Yemeni Narrative Award known as (Hazawi) played an important role in highlighting new literary voices. Among the winning works in the unpublished novels category were (The Silicon Prophecy) by Ahlam Al Maqaleh and (When Love Sees) by Sadiq Abdullah Al Wasabi.

These awards, despite their limited scope, reflect the