Using a pseudonym, Tuvit Shlomi, a 28-year-old Jewish woman, has won the prestigious El Hizjra Prize, a Dutch poetry award designed to promote the culture of Arab immigrants to Holland.
In a bid to ensure her work would be judged on the merits of its content rather than authorship, Shlomi submitted her poems using the pseudonym Wallada bint al-Mustaqfi, who was an 11th-century Andalusian poet and feminist.
“With an Israeli name, I’d imagine they would see the entry and say ‘nope,’ ’’ said Shlomi, who works at the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel and attends an Orthodox synagogue in the Hague, Netherlands.
The award recognizes emerging poets in Dutch, Arabic and Berber. Shlomi won in the 26-plus age category for her poems “My Dream is Dead” and “Ready for Winter.”
In accordance with regulations, Shlomi informed contest organizers of her real name. One of the contest’s judges, Erik Lindner, said Shlomi’s concerns about using her real name were unfounded. Poems were judged on style and language, not theme or name, he said.
Abderazak Sbaiti, director of the El Hizjra Center for Arabic Art and Culture, told a Dutch daily he was pleased for Shlomi. Her participation “proves how multicultural the Netherlands are,” he said.
Noting that the contest was not limited to those of Moroccan or Arabic background, he said, “We accept all cultures.”
Shlomi, whose late mother was a Holocaust survivor and father is Israeli-born, was born in Utrecht, Netherlands. She said it was not a stretch for her to apply for a prize that promotes Berber and Moroccan culture.
“I feel close to other Mediterranean cultures because they remind me of my own,” she said.
“My Dream is Dead” was born from Shlomi’s internal debates about the dream and reality of Israel, where she has many relatives. “It is about searching for a home, a purpose, for the real Israel,” she said. “But those are things I see in it, and I want to leave it open for other people.”
Shlomi called the recognition of the award “quite amazing,” adding that “I hope there is a publisher who will read this somewhere and will think, ‘I want to publish this girl!’ ” — jta