A New Novel by Saleem Albeik is in Progress

Feb 2018

Saleem Albeik, one of the beneficiaries of the fourth edition of Laboratory of Arts program, is finalizing his novel temporarily titled Charlotte, Rima, and Haifa. The novel will be released at Beirut Book Fair in December 2018.

The novel tells the story of Karim, a Palestinian from Syria, who lives in Paris. He first meets Charlotte at a café and then he meets her again in the cinema, where his story begins with her and with her friend, Melanie, and Melanie's friend Rima. The story does not extend for more than a few days and is based on the possible relationship with each of the three women, especially Rima who comes from Haifa. Karim is the grandson of a refugee from Haifa who came to Syria in the year of Palestinian exodus.

Because of Rima, Karim rethinks of the image of Haifa city in his mind and what it means to him. He wonders if he could too be the son of Haifa as Rima is. He explores his thoughts about the city and his relationship with it through deep conversations with Rima and internal reflections.

The events take place in a café, a cinema, a bar, a restaurant, Charlotte's House, and the streets.

Saleem Albeik

A Palestinian writer from the Tarshiha village in the Galilee and the Palestinian camps in Syria, Saleem Albeik was born in Abu Dhabi in 1982, and has lived in Toulouse, France since 2013.

In the year 2017, he published a novel entitled Two Tickets to Saffouriya, Dar al-Saki Publishing House, Beirut. In 2015, he published a poetry collection titled You Only Have Water, Raya Publishing House, Haifa. And, in 2008, he published a prose collection titled The Sins of a Refugee, Canaan Publishing House, Damascus.

He is the editor of the Rumman Cultural Magazine, an electronic magazine on the cultural, political, artistic and literary affairs of Palestinians and Syrians. He also participated in several readings and forums, including the Palestine Literature Festival (PalFest), Haifa; Writing in Exile, Berlin; and Depicting Palestine, Marseilles.


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