Amman, June 23 — The Abdul Hameed Shoman Cultural Forum hosted Syrian novelist and critic Nabil Suleiman on Monday evening in a discussion titled “Writing in Times of War,” attended by a group of writers, intellectuals, and those interested in cultural affairs.

During the session, moderated by writer Dr. Shahla Al-Ajili, Suleiman presented a creative testimony based on his lived experience during one of the most difficult and complex periods in modern Syrian history. He shed light on his personal and literary journey during the years of civil war, addressing questions imposed by devastation on both the writer and the act of writing. He explored how characters are written when life itself is under threat, how memory becomes narrative material, what happens to language when reality is hard to convey, and how the novel can retain its humanity amid widespread violence, division, and loss.

He stressed that writing during war differs from writing about it—posing immediate creative and ethical challenges. He described Syria’s recent political upheaval as an “earthquake,” clarifying it as a metaphor for deep transformation.
He also spoke about his emotional connection to Syria, stating that since 2011 he chose not to leave the country despite numerous incentives and pressures to do so.

Suleiman revealed that he had survived two attempts on his life, in 2001 and 2011, due to his political positions and activities. The second attempt led him into isolation, from which writing helped him return to life.

He noted that one of the greatest challenges for a writer is addressing the current reality, alongside issues such as documentation, use of sources, media tools, and autobiographical elements—challenges faced by hundreds of Syrian novels published over the past 15 years.

He also discussed the difficulties he encountered while writing several of his works, including “Murals of Damascus” (about the events of 2011), “Night of the World” (about events in Raqqa), and “History of Extinguished Eyes.”

Born in 1945, Suleiman has written 23 novels and 40 critical works, with translations into several languages. He has received several awards, including the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation Award (17th edition) in 2022 for fiction (novels and drama), and the Jordanian Writers Association Award (Ghaleb Halaseh) for cultural creativity in 1994. He has also served as a judge for various literary awards, including chairing the jury of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Arab Booker Prize).