Sand-Catcher

Omar Khalifah is a novelist and short story writer in Arabic. His book, Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary, was published in English by Edinburgh University Press in 2017. His collection Ka’annani Ana (As If I Were Myself) was published in Amman, Jordan in 2010, and his novel Qabid al-Raml (Sand-Catcher) was published in 2020. His articles have appeared in Middle East Critique and Journal of World Literature. A Fulbright scholar, Khalifah is assistant professor of Arabic Literature and Culture at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar.Barbara Romaine is an academic and literary translator. She has published translations of five novels, most recently Waiting for the Past (Syracuse University Press, 2022), by the Iraqi novelist Hadiya Hussein. She has held two NEA fellowships in translation, one of which was for her work on Radwa Ashour's Spectres (Interlink Books, 2011). Spectres went on to place second in the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal international translation competition. Romaine’s translations of essays, short stories, and classical poetry have appeared in a variety of literary periodicals.

Praise for Sand-CatcherWinner, 2025 National Translation AwardA Chicago Review of Books Must-Read Book of December 2024A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2024A Millions Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024“When atrocities become commonplace, when dominant narratives circulate unchecked and unopposed, too often the burden of collective memory comes to rest on individual witnesses—people who, Sand-Catcher suggests, might have something to lose in the telling.” —Bekah Waalkes, The Atlantic“Sand-Catcher exemplifies why translated literature is important. An exuberant and thought-provoking tale.” —Cory Oldweiler, The Boston Globe“A darkly funny satire and a suspenseful tale about balancing the need for privacy and bearing witness to the traumas of the past and present.” —Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books“Khalifah depicts how the Palestinian diaspora has suffered not only the brutality of Israeli dispossession but also the exploitation of Palestinian bodies and memories in the 80 years since. [He] rejects the self-mortification that has been demanded of Palestinians, with no justice given in exchange.” —Mathilde Montpetit, The Berliner“[Sand-Catcher] starts with seduction and ends in violence, a climax like a wind-up toy built to fly to pieces, a breakup that tears through both family and friends. It’s the same widening crack as ever⎯all that’s been lost⎯lurking under all the clever structure and gab.” —John Domini, The Brooklyn Rail“A timely new translation and hopefully one we’ll be reading at the same time as we can celebrate a safe and free Palestine.” —Literary Hub“For anyone looking for insight—tinged with grim humor—into the years leading up to the present political crisis in the Middle East and the decades-long goal of Palestinian autonomy.” —The Millions“The novel doesn’t tell us where to put the line between a commodified archetype and the real. Instead, it leaves us to take this tension forward into our lives." —Marcia Lynx Qualey,The New Arab