Gaza -

Najwa Ghanem is preparing to enter Germany's "Castle of Solitude", as the first Palestinian writer to win the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship, which is awarded annually by a German foundation to 7 writers from conflict areas around the world.

Najwa won the award for a short story in her book “She Closed Without Her”, translated into English under the title “45 Minutes”, which narrates a real experience she went through in one of the Israeli wars on Gaza, when about 51 of her neighbors took shelter in her home in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood after warning An Israeli raid on a nearby house.

In this story, Najwa tells with much suspense and pain "the cruelty of waiting."

Souls crowded in one room, hearts filled with fear, and eyes staring waiting for a missile that will turn a safe residential house into scattered rubble, and 45 minutes pass heavy, as if the clock is not moving, so that everyone discovers that they were isolated from the outside world, surrounded by fear, without news reaching them. Reach a lull, to escape the target house from the treacherous raid.

Najwa says - to Al Jazeera Net - that wars have special stories with women, leaving traces on them that may last long, as women suffer the pain of loss, the loss of loved ones and the horror of daily life under bombing and destruction.

Najwa Ghanem: The woman suffers the pain of loss, the loss of loved ones, and the horror of daily life under bombing and destruction (Al-Jazeera)

solitude castle

Palestinian women's stories with the occupation, in addition to the societal restrictions that she faces in aspects of her life, represent the main features of the literary project that Najwa will work on completing during the 4 months she will spend in the "Castle of Solitude" in Germany.

Najwa said that the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship, which is a grant for writers in conflict areas in the world, was launched in 2011, whereby 7 writers are selected to support their literary projects with two types of grants: either funded financially, or through the foundation's fellowship that provides a full grant. The winners will have to stay for 4 months in the castle of solitude in Germany, with the financing of their literary product.

The idea of ​​isolation is based on the philosophy of removing the writer from the noisy life, so that he returns to the nature that restores his health and mental and psychological health, so that he is able to think soundly without any influences, to produce his best, according to Najwa.

Najwa is married and a mother of four children. It is not easy for her to find time to isolate herself. She believes that the 4 months of isolation will give her a “unique opportunity” to be creative in the narrative expression of the life of the Palestinian woman who faces “suffering in many faces”, whether due to the crimes of the occupation or the restrictions of society. its customs and traditions.

For Najwa, the priority for her family, then she searches in the folds of daily life for a space to write after the family goes to sleep (Al-Jazeera)

The privacy of the creative woman

Najwa, who is in her early forties, believes that women should have an impact in any of their lives. Her decision was to quit her job as an English language teacher in a public school, when she lost her "passion" and gave up on the ability to change.

She devoted herself to her family life and literary writings.

She says: The creative woman suffers, and her suffering increases if she is married, in terms of finding "the special space and time for thinking and creativity."

For Najwa, the priority is for her family, and then she searches in the folds of daily life for this space in which she can devote herself to writing, often after the family goes to sleep.

Najwa began her journey with writing fiction in English since she was at the university in 1997, and her professors and colleagues were her fans and critics, and she felt admiration and encouragement from them to continue, and then she tried to move to writing in Arabic.

Najwa was born into a family that enjoys reading and writing for all its members, and with her first steps towards school in the primary stage, and by reaching the fourth grade and mastering proper reading, she began to draw the attention of her teachers and colleagues with phrases that she stores in her mind and is repeated on her tongue as a result of books and novels, which prompted the Arabic language teacher to predict what She is today, telling her, “One day you will be a writer.”

"She closed without her" from her stories, "45 minutes" was her gateway to winning the German "Jean-Jacques Rousseau" fellowship (Al Jazeera)

wings of fear

In 2005, Najwa moved from writing in English, and began her journey with writing fiction in Arabic, and after 6 years, she was on a date with the publication of the first collection of short stories entitled "Wings of Fear", containing 32 short stories.

Najwa is currently competing for the State Prize for her book "I Closed Without Her", one of whose stories "45 Minutes" was the gateway to winning the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship of Germany. A Palestinian woman that reflects national identity since before the Nakba through the occupation until the current reality, and Najwa participates with 24 translators in translating it into the English language, and it will soon be published by a publishing house in Britain.

Najwa - who comes from a refugee family from the town of "Hatta" in occupied Palestine - passed on her creativity to her children, and she is proud of her daughter "Nissan" (13 years) winning local and Arab awards for her story "A Refugee's Dream".

Najwa believes that the success of the Palestinian in any of the creative fields is a "struggle front" that must be employed to serve the national cause and contribute to the battle for liberation from occupation.