A Mask the Color of the Sky

Synopsis

Winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, A Mask the Color of the Sky follows Nur, a young Palestinian refugee from a camp near Ramallah whose appearance allows him to pass as an Israeli Jew. When he discovers an Israeli identity card in the pocket of a secondhand coat, he assumes a new identity and takes a job on an archaeological excavation at Megiddo, entering a world that had always been closed to him. As Nur moves between two lives, the boundaries between self, history, and belonging begin to dissolve.

Written entirely from an Israeli prison, Bassem Khandaqji's award-winning novel is both an intimate psychological portrait and a profound meditation on identity, exile, memory, and occupation. Rich in literary and historical references, A Mask the Color of the Sky explores the emotional cost of living between cultures while asking what it means to belong to a place shaped by competing histories.

About the Author

Bassem Khandaqji is a Palestinian novelist, poet, and journalist. Arrested in 2004, he has written several novels, poetry collections, and hundreds of essays while imprisoned. A Mask the Color of the Sky won the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, bringing his work to an international audience. This edition is translated from the Arabic by Addie Leak, an award-winning literary translator whose work has appeared in Words Without Borders, Asymptote, and other leading publications.

Publisher

Europa Editions

Publication Date

March 17, 2026

Format

Paperback

Pages

224

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Fiction in Translation · Palestinian Literature · Identity · Historical Fiction · Middle Eastern Literature

ISBN

9798889661702