London: An author from Oman has won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for 'Celestial Bodies', the story of three sisters and of a desert country confronting its slave-owning past and a complex modern world.

Jokha Alharthi, the first Arabic-language writer to take the prize, will split the 50,000 pound (USD64,000) purse with her UK-based translator, Marilyn Booth.

ADVERTISEMENT

Historian Bettany Hughes, who led the judging panel, said Tuesday that the winning novel was "a book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure." "Celestial Bodies" beat five other finalists from Europe and South America, including last year's winner, Poland's Olga Tokarczuk.

The prize is a counterpart to the Man Booker Prize for English-language novels and is open to books in any language that have been translated into English.

ADVERTISEMENT

TAGS

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.