Omani literature takes the spotlight at the 2026 Sharjah International Book Fair, where the Sultanate is Guest of Honour at the 45th edition, with a growing record of publication across languages and markets. Since Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies, translated by Marilyn Booth, won the International Booker Prize in 2019, further translations of her work have appeared alongside recognition for other Omani writers at major Arabic literary awards. Publishing initiatives have also emerged to support the translation, publication and marketing of literature in English.
The publication history of Celestial Bodies illustrates the time a book can take to reach readers beyond its original language. First published in Arabic in 2010, the novel appeared in English through Sandstone Press in 2018, a year before its prize win. Alharthi’s official website lists 26 published translations, including French, German, Chinese, Korean and Spanish. Together, these editions trace the journey of a novel rooted in Omani lives and memories to readers across widely differing cultural settings.
Alharthi’s English-language readership has since gained access to more of her fiction. Bitter Orange Tree appeared in 2022, followed by Silken Gazelles in 2024, both translated by Booth. The novels explore distinct subjects: an Omani student in Britain remembering the woman she regarded as her grandmother, and the bonds of friendship, shared nursing and loss connecting women whose lives unfold between village and city. These publications allow English-language readers to follow the author’s work across several books and different stages of her writing.
Recognition within Arabic-language publishing has brought further Omani voices to prominence. Bushra Khalfan’s Dilshad reached the International Prize for Arabic Fiction shortlist in 2022, before Zahran Alqasmi’s The Water Diviner won the prize in 2023. The two novels introduce contrasting Omani settings: one draws on the stories of Muscat and the changing lives of its inhabitants, while the other follows a rural community whose fortunes depend on water. Their successive recognition highlights the variety of Omani fiction, both in subject matter and narrative approach.
On the publishing side, the Bait Al Ghasham DarArab Translation Prize, launched in 2023, provides an institutional route to new audiences. Established through a partnership between Bait Al Ghasham and DarArab, the prize allocates funding to translation, editing, publication and marketing, and includes a category for published Omani works. Its model brings several stages of a book’s journey into a single programme, from selecting a work to publishing its translation, providing a practical means of sustaining a literary presence beyond the Arabic language.
