Book Club Meeting: Honey Hunger

In this session, we are pleased to welcome Omani novelist and poet Zahran Alqasmi, winner of the 2023 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel The Water Diviner, for a conversation exploring the presence of nature in literature, the relationship between people, place, and memory, and the shared cultural and human connections between Oman and the UAE.

We will also highlight his novel Honey Hunger, whose English translation by Marilyn Booth won the 2025 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.

The session will be accompanied by a selected reading from the ancient Ugaritic Epic of Aqhat, one of the earliest literary narratives exploring the relationship between father and son, loss and grief, and the impact of absence on family and nature, opening a space for reflection on the connections between ancient storytelling and contemporary fiction.

Our experience extends beyond the pages of the novel and into nature through a guided tour of the EKTIFA Project, highlighting its efforts to promote food security and sustainability.

Participants will explore the stages of natural honey production, from beekeeping and hive management to honey harvesting, extraction, and packaging.

An optional guided visit inside the apiary will also be available in small groups, with protective beekeeping suits provided, offering an experience that connects the details of the novel with the real world of bees.